RoboCop

Up front I'll confess. I'm one of those curmudgeony dinosaurs who takes it as a personal affront to my long gone adolescence whenever anyone dares to remake an 80s flick. I mean, heck, movies aside, NOTHING can compare to how stylin' I was in my parachute pants & moussed up hair as I strutted in that movie theater with my gallon of Fresca, pop rocks & Fruit Stripe gum back in '87 to watch the cinematic event of the decade, Robocop. That alone, plus the fact that they don't make gum with real sugar anymore (communists!), makes me want to thumbs-down every remake of today.

But you know what? This movie sorta rocks. I'll tell you why.

First of all, the story is COMPLETELY different, so it can't even be considered a remake. I'm a firm believer that, much like Jimi Hendrix did when he covered "Hey Joe", if you're going to revisit someone else's work then do it completely differently. That's what the director did here. Only the basic premise remains: a lone, half-computerized "Everyman" decides to take on a criminal/corporate colossus while simultaneously struggling with his lost humanity.

First off, Robocop 2014 is a much broader, more family-friendly film. Gone is the extreme, in-your-face violence and criminal depravity that worked so well in the original which was intended to disturb viewers on an emotional level (Veerhoven is king of cinematic satire). Whereas the old Robocop was known to pump lead into perpetrators' private parts, in this version Robocop uses a taser gun to take down most threats. Granted, it's a taser gun that packs enough juice to take down the jolly green giant, but the point is we don't see quite as much blood & guts.

Instead of disturbing violence and hard-hitting satire, we get some very interesting political and philosophical spins. The idea of a robot police force is cleverly tied in with military drones and smart-warfare technology that's already in use today. The question being posed is: when we turn this same technology on ourselves (America) to police our own people, suddenly it seems bone-chillingly sick.

Another new & interesting spin is the idea that Robocop is the personification of the existentialist debate. Do we have free will? Or is there some governing force that has written out our lives and "choices" already, and we are merely as Shakespeare said, a bunch of actors playing out roles? Robocop 2014 touches on this with the idea that Robo is actually hard-coded to behave as a machine with only the illusion that he has conscious will. THAT was a great philosophical angle which I actually wish the movie had spent another hour exploring. But I guess that would've taxed a lot of viewers' attention spans, so it was kept under the surface. Still it's something to ponder heavily as the movie unfolds.

Special effects, action, costumes & gizmos are eye poppingly great. And I don't mean over-the-top cartoonish, either. They're great because the film does a nice job of keeping things real enough to make you think this scenario could actually happen. In the "Behind the scenes" bonus, a point is brought up that the director nixed a bunch of really cool scifi ideas (such as a motorcycle that transforms into a shell around Robo) because he didn't want the viewer to get lost in too much fantasy. The result is more of a straightforward crime drama or even political thriller than it is scifi.

The acting. OK, for real, how can anyone fail with Michael Keaton (the first movie Batman) and Gary Oldman (Dracula) and, in a peripheral but awesomely hilarious parody role Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction!) as the rabid fascist foul-mouthed host of a cable "news" show called The Novak Element. Oh gawd, fans of Veerhoven's satirical skewerings will LOVE this character. Relative newcomer Joel Kinnaman (Robo) does a great job, and old Robocop fans might notice some deliberate homages he makes to the original Peter Weller performance such as the way he always turns with his head first, then shoulders, then feet.

I also must add a quick note about the music used in this film. There are several great homages to us aging fans with selections such as The Clash "I Fought the Law" and a great shoot-em-up scene that uses "Hocus Pocus" by Focus. And I think that approach sums up what this film is all about. It's not attempting to trample on our memories of the original Robocop, but rather, it acknowledges old fans while presenting something completely different and, in my opinion, worthwhile. Now if someone would only acknowledge my cool parachute pants I be flying high.

I just came across a collection of past and present pop culture characters on a social media site and thought to myself "Wow, there was a Robocob reboot? In 2014? How could I have missed this?" The thing is, I didn't miss it. When I watched the trailer just now on imdb, I vaguely recalled some of the scenes about two thirds in. And isn't that really all you need to know about this remake?

Dear fellow movie buffs and Robocop fans! Let's make something clear at the beginning: I'm a huge RoboCop fan, absolutely LOVE the original movie and I advice anybody who feel otherwise stop reading this review further because it is gonna be about something you do not care about: the new RoboCop movie! I watched the RoboCop remake Saturday evening with my other half and as usual I came here to IMDb to check on the reviews and what other people thought of it. I do not write a lot of reviews but this time I absolutely felt the need to write one, as I was shocked to see how people bashing this movie into the ground. Of course it is the usual drill: comparing it to the original, what the new one missed out, the new robo design... etc. I just do not understand most of these people. When I heard that there is gonna be a RoboCop remake I was very happy to hear the news. And it is NOT because I dislike the original! It is because there were no RoboCop movies made for over than 2 decades and I love the material. I wanted the story to continue or something. And we finally got to what I wanted to say! This RoboCop movie is by NO mean bad! When I went to the cinema both me and my girlfriend - who also a fan of the original - were ready to be disappointed and we absolutely loved the movie. This is a different "new age" story of the now famous character. When I saw some of the reviews I just cannot believe that those people watched the same movie! Either that or I have low standards... which I don't think so.

People I'm not saying that this remake was not created because the studios wanted to make some quick bucks! Most probably it was! What I'm saying is that they did care about the material, and they took the time to create a new and exciting vision. I go even that far that the message of the movie is different slightly from the original, and that is absolutely fine! The acting is amazing, it was great to see Michael Keaton on the big screen again, he is a very underrated and extremely talented actor in my opinion. Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, and I gotta say Joel Kinnaman was an awesome and very emotional Alex Murphy! The new RoboCop designs were something scared me off a bit at first too when I saw the first on set shots, but do they look awesome in the movie! The action was great and the special efx of course are something have to work in a movie this caliber so no surprises there: fantastic job! There is one thing though other reviewers also mentioned is a little bit dissatisfying: there is no real enemy. But then again, this is a different story. This one is more about a guy who's being thrown around in this crazy futuristic world where he tries everything to maintain his humanity, even though they constantly shut him down, or overload his brain with information. He is us! And finally let me say that much: yes the original is a classic, and it is indeed different, but this new one is not only enjoyable but has the promise of starting the franchise over again with a first class cast, emotional story, and great effects so sit back and enjoy the ride! This is by no means resembles the hollow empty, unoriginal, and completely pointless Totall Recall remake! So just give it a brake and let's hope that there is gonna be a second part!

I love Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop from 1987 (which remains iconic) and I usually don't like reboots. But watching the new one I never got rid of the feeling, that the remake is worth it. It is a whole new interpretation, that sets the focus on the topics of our time: robots, drones, the human aspect behind the technology, media critics, war propaganda. I felt, the movie has a mission to enlighten people and I liked that. It became even more obvious how much the RoboCop story exists within the topos of Frankenstein which is the story about the human devilment and the lack of respect of life. That's why Padilha gives Murphy more of a face, a life and feelings.

Beside that the pictures, the sound, the music is pretty contemporary. You probably have to make some compromises today to get the millions to get the flick done. It won't become iconic, but it's the right time for the right message in the right movie.

In 2010, acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky (THE WRESTLER, BLACK SWAN) was originally attached to direct the ROBOCOP reboot. Frankly, I thought he was the right choice to reboot the once-popular franchise back in the late '80s. Unfortunately, he quits the project and Brazilian director Jose Padilha (ELITE SQUAD, ELITE SQUAD: THE ENEMY WITHIN) was brought in as his replacement. WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? When police detective Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is critically injured during a car explosion in front of his home, CEO of OmniCorp Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) sees him as a golden opportunity to make him feel alive again by turning him into "Robocop" -- a cyborg police officer which is touted as the future of law enforcement in America. However, OmniCorp doesn't realize that Murphy still has a personal vengeance in his mind to pursue the criminals who nearly caused him dead. THE GOOD STUFF Like the first two ELITE SQUAD movies, director Jose Padilha delivers the same raw intensity that gives ROBOCOP a quasi-documentary feel to the action sequences. Even though Padilha utilizes shaky camera-work, at least he doesn't make the scene so wobbly until the viewers unable to see what's really going on. The special effects are spectacular, while the costume design for the all-new Robocop in a black tactical body actually looks quite nifty. Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman (best known in the US for TV's The Killing) delivers an emotionally engaging performance as Alex Murphy and Robocop, while Michael Keaton steals most of the spotlight as the slimy CEO of OmniCorp Raymond Sellars and Gary Oldman gives a perfectly restrained performance as the sympathetic Dr. Dennett Norton. Other minor roles -- including Abbie Cornish as Murphy's wife, Clara; Jackie Earle Haley as the military tactician Mattox; and Samuel L. Jackson as the media host Pat Novak -- are all equally impressive. MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT(S) The brief but intense battle between Robocop and a small army of ED-209 during the climactic finale. THE BAD STUFF The biggest weakness in this ROBOCOP reboot is Joshua Zetumer's captivating but bloated screenplay. First of all, the story drags too much with Murphy's personal family matter with his estranged wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) and son David (John Paul Ruttan). Then there's the underwritten plot involving Murphy's personal vengeance against Antoine Vallon (Patrick Garrow), who is responsible for the car explosion. Even the so-called social commentary involving the "robo-phobic" issue quoted by Samuel L. Jackson's Pat Novak doesn't really say much that worth a debate. FINAL WORDS While the new ROBOCOP is far from a genre classic by any means, at least Jose Padilha's version isn't as bad as most people might have expected. Just put your mindset of the Paul Verhoeven's original 1987 version aside, and treat this as an entirely new movie altogether.