'Robocop' A Review

Robocop is a scifi action movie about a cyborg Detriot detective, a remake of the 1987 cult classic of the same name. The movie opens on Sam Jackson as a Bill O'Reilly stand in. He is berating the American public for being "robophobic". The US has used robots for peacekeeping overseas but has yet to allow them on their own soil. The head of the robot producing company Omnicorp played by an underutilized Michael Keaton decides to put a man inside a machine in order to sway public opinion. Joel Kinnaman as Det. Murphy is fatally injured and becomes Robocop.

Without the context of the original film this remake is almost completely devoid of focus, a defining narrative, and social commentary. This remake turned a funny, biting-satire, action film into a bloated CGI heavy cash grab. There is no humor in the movie and the CGI action is more reminiscent of video games than cinema. The story attempts to inject emotional stakes into Robocop's journey but it is not developed and ultimately serves only as a distraction.

The cast is star-studded but no one is given much of anything to do. Gary Oldman brings a convincing earnestness to his role and Jackson is bizarre and frightening but despite some great effort the performances fall flat.

The movie is over long. It takes over an hour for Kinnaman to become Robocop and there isn't much of him actually being Robocop before the drawn out ending begins. There is an opportunity in the movie to raise questions about unmanned fighters and drones which is addressed only vaguely in favor of grotesque scenes of Kinnman's head floating over his glass encased lungs.

A far cry from the crisp darkly amusing original. A boring disappointment.

Don't See It.