ROBOCOP

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

GRADE:  B

Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Jennifer Ehle, Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Jose Padhilla

In this age wherein even Lucky Charms commercials are revered as classics by a portion of the population as long as the were made in the 1980s, the original Robocop has been elevated to masterpiece status by its many fans. And, for what it is, its a good movie, containing some very funny dark satire and a distinctive goofy charm. But it's also excessively juvenile in its over the top and rather pointless violence, profanity and everything else adolescent males of the 80s loved, and since a curious phenomena causes most of them to still be adolescents living in the 80s today, many of them are outraged by the idea of a PG-13 remake that dares to take a character who clearly belonged on a toy shelf next to He-Man and Optimus Prime and remove the highly artistic excess which defined why they had to watch it when their parents weren't home. However, those who do manage to get past that might find themselves enjoying a flawed, slightly less charmingly quirky movie that could use a bit more of the original film's sense of humor but sometimes succeeds at being a bit more thoughtful, has a stellar supporting cast, and also boasts 100% less Nancy Allen.

Joel Kinnaman mumbles his way through the role of Alex Murphy, a cop in the future who gets blown up for getting a little too close to busting a major crime ring. This happens to come right at the same time that a major arms manufacturer named Raymond Sellers (Michael Keaton)  is trying to sway public sentiment toward allowing his robot killing machine drones to be used as Police Officers. Sellers is assisted by a thinly disguised Fox News with Samuel L. Jackson as its spokesman, in a piece of admittedly heavy handed but largely effective political satire that barely avoids causing right-wingers to burn down the theater because the use of the word "drone" also implies criticism of the Obama administration. 

Murphy, of course, becomes the title character, aided by scientist Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman, giving the best performance in the film). The new Robocop is a hero for the masses, a man inside a machine who can sway public opinion. Except that his human emotions cloud his killing abilities, and when reprogramming suppresses those emotions, he's not really human anymore.

Kinnaman becomes less mumbly and more expressive as he moves from Murphy to Robocop,  but it's hard not to feel the film would benefit from a stronger lead performance, and his Robocop isn't going to be the pop culture icon that Peter Weller's was. But the supporting cast is strong enough to make up the difference, and director Jose Padhilla handles the action well, building into a much stronger flow after a slow and problematic first half hour. But it's the satire of the relationship between politics, media and warfare and the way they try to convince us that the only way to be safe from things that go boom is things that make a bigger boom, that elevates the material and makes this flawed but entertaining remake worth a look. No, it wasn't really necessary, and no, it's not a great film. It's a flawed but interesting and sometimes entertaining sci-fi action satire, much like the original. Which version you prefer is honestly largely a matter of personal preference. For me, a little Paul Verhoeven style excess goes a long way, and given the choice of which one to watch again I'd take the remake, even if there isn't a single moment as memorable or funny as the weaponry test in boardroom from the original. But if ultra violence and gore is your thing, stick to the 1987 version. 

Robocop is rated PG-13 (what kind of God would allow that?!!!) for an astonishing amount of admittedly bloodless gun violence, some profanity (including mediocre bleeping of Jackson's signature word) and mild sexuality. At least fans can take comfort in the fact that it's still not suitable for children.