In RoboCop the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas their drones have been used by the military for years - and its meant billions for OmniCorps bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit - is critically injured in the line of duty OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders but they never counted on one thing there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice.
Review
Okay so very few people were confident about this remake. The original has such a huge fan base that a reboot seems like blasphemy to most.
So how does this hold up Well it looks like butter it at times tastes like butter but brother it ain't butter. Believe it.
The film lacks something and I think I know what it is there is no real villain. Instead of building up a supervillain for Murphy to fight to the death with it toys with different characters as his foe never really committing to one or the other. Kurtwood Smith is an evil son of a gun in the original because he shoots Murphy to pieces. Its up close and personal. In this well the guy that car bombs (lame) our robotic cop gets about 2 minutes of screen time with very little back story. Frankly you just don't care.
The plot seems more concerned about Murphy trying to cope with becoming an amputee and him and his family learning to accept his new circumstances which frankly when you see what he looks like without the armour is just disturbing. Instead of being an awesome action flick you just feel bad for the guy. The reality of the situation is just too harsh in its portrayal and you end up thinking maybe he would be better off dead.
Do you want to pay good money to question your ideological values towards quality of life or do you want to see robocop go toe to toe with a man who shot him to s*** I know what I'd buy for a dollar.
Also on a side note Samuel L. Jackson needs to stop being in films. While his appearance at first is welcome by the end it feels very cheap and unnatural. The antiAmerican war effort message starts to get a little forced down your throat and before you start screaming that I'm a flag loving American I'm a Brit and even I felt the satire was a bit in your face.
The film shouldn't upset people too badly it could honestly be much worse and it does have some passable moments with a couple of good nods to the original. Just don't get your hopes too high.