[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmtQXUXez8&w]
RoboCop (2014)
Release Date: February 12, 2014
Cast: Joe Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Jay Baruchel
Director: Joe Padilha
Studio: MGM, Columbia Pictures
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures
Genre(s): Action, Sci-Fi, Crime
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Spoilers: High
IMDB | Rotten Tomatoes | Wikipedia
I enjoyed this movie a lot and currently it’s sitting at a 53% on RottenTomatoes…why? Well, there are comparisons to the old movie and how it doesn’t measure up. It’s not as satirical or witty as the old one. It’s not a classic (obviously). Stop comparing it to the old one and look at it by itself and bottom line is it’s a great action/sci-fi movie that has a solid story, great acting, and a political undertone that’s not over-bearing. Being on the blasphemous side that hasn’t seen the original RoboCop (I know, I know don’t shank me), I’ll be reviewing this movie purely based on itself without any comparisons.
The comedic relief of this otherwise quite serious movie comes whenever Pat Novak (Samuel L. Jackson) is on-screen. He is the host of The Novak Element and is very pro-robot and obviously on the side of Omnicorp, the company that builds all the bots. Omnicorp is bleeding out money because they can’t gain America’s approval to have robots on home land because of the Dreyfus Act.
Alex works as a detective in the Detroit Police and was on the trail of a crime boss selling guns taken from the evidence locker at police headquarters. He dug in too deep and a car bomb was planted, where Alex eventually was blown up (80% of his body burned, legs and arms amputated). Eventually Alex becomes RoboCop in a facility in China…there were so many Chinese workers.
Loopholes abound.
All crime is pretty much taken care of by RoboCop and he continues to ignore his wife and son. Until finally his wife confronts him and says how is son is depressed. Alex then by a miraculous twist starts to feel again because he begins investigating his own murder (without the seizures) and his dopamine levels rise again. He goes on an investigation and finds his killer. Tears down the whole place and kills the gang and discovers who the dirty cops are. He is a little beat-up but nothing Dr. Norton can’t fix. Sellars wants to spin it because what’s bigger than a hero? A dead hero… Obviously Dr. Norton is not okay with this so he takes the shutdown chip out of Alex’s brain and releases him to go kill Sellars.
Wham, bam thank you ma’am. Alex completes his mission and is reunited with his family. He is now the protector of Detroit City and all is well…for now.
Final Thoughts (TL; DR):
RoboCop is a futuristic movie about how machines are the protectors of the land but because they can’t feel Americans don’t like it. Once the man is integrated with machine, then it becomes acceptable. Joel Kinnaman who plays Alex Murphy strikes the balance between emotion and cold when he becomes RoboCop. The action is peppered tastefully throughout the movie without being overwhelming with explosions or gunfire every minute. The storyline is solid and by no means is this movie an award winner, but it’s above average. I think that a sequel would be nice because then they can write their own plot. This remake is being compared to the old RoboCop and because of that I think it’s receiving low reviews. Since I haven’t seen the old one, I enjoy this movie because the effects are great, acting is fantastic (GIVE OLDMAN AN OSCAR! Christ almighty Academy), Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious, and the action is legit.
You are a moron