Rated PG-13 for violence and language
Starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson,
Directed by Jose Padilha
The Story:
In the future, OmniCorp has been sending their cyborg troops overseas as peacekeeping soldiers ensuring real people aren't dying anymore. Only America is refusing to allow these tin men to patrol the streets, and with pressure on politicians by OmniCorp president Sellars (Keaton) and crusading journalist Pat Novak (Jackson) are lobbying to get a RoboCop trial program off the ground. The missing ingredient: the human factor. When they receive the gift of a cop that was targeted for assassination (Kinnaman), they hardwire him into the RoboCop program.
This is not your father's RoboCop.
Or mine, for that matter.
The original, satirical take on America in the 80s is still a science fiction classic, however, my fears, as I voiced in my review last year of the original RoboCop (1987), were thankfully unfounded.
While many of names remain the same, there are subtle, and less subtle shifts in tone and behavior to the original.
Whereas Total Recall tried to change the story completely, the over-reliance of the original ended up casting a shadow that the remake could not crawl out from under.
RoboCop takes the least amount of the original and transplants it, without the satiric tone, into a possible future America that could likely exist.
Why wouldn't we want to send robotic soldiers to fight wars and save hundreds/thousands of human lives?
You would think it would be a no-brainer, but politicians want human capability for discernment to be included.
Kinnaman brings life to the suit, literally if not figuratively. Not familiar with his work, the big names all float around as secondary figures.
At the end of the day though, if I am only going to watch another RoboCop with my kids (assuming they want to watch it again...), it would end up being this version.
Simply because the tone and violence is dialed waaaaay back this go round.
The revamped RoboCop is a perfectly serviceable science fiction/action flick for a new generation.
Final Grade: B-
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: It actually wasn't too bad. I don't think I'll rush out to own it, but I could watch it on cable in the future.
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