RoboCop (2014)

Back in 2016 I took a look back at the original RoboCop trilogy, but I didn't review the 2014 reboot at the time.

Until rewatching the movie for this review I had only seen it the one time in theaters and had forgotten a lot about it. There are a few things in this film that I like but, I'm going to start with some of the problems I have with it. First off, it's rated PG-13.  For a lot of movies this wouldn't matter much to me but, similarly to 1993's RoboCop 3, keeping this film a PG-13 instead of a R rating holds it back. Secondly, the film lacks the humor and satire of the others, particularly the 1987 original. Finally, despite an overall strong cast, I feel that Joel Kinnaman was miscast as Alex Murphy.

The movie isn't without it's positves though. Like I said, the cast overall is solid, boasting the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, and Michael Keaton. I think the story works well enough, the action is decent, and RoboCop's design looks pretty good in 

the film, with the exception of the helmet.

Overall, it isn't great but it's not unwatchable either. That being said, if you're in the mood for a RoboCop film, I'd still recommend either of the first two over this one.

2.5 out of 5

 If you want to check out my reviews of the other RoboCop films here are the links: RoboCop (1987), RoboCop 2 (1990), and RoboCop 3 (1993)

Today's Movie: RoboCop 3

The day has arrived to finish out the reviews of the RoboCop trilogy.

I've already reviewed 1987's RoboCop and the 1990 follow-up RoboCop 2, and I'll leave links to those reviews at the bottom of this post, but now it's time to look at 1993's RoboCop 3.

Right off the bat, two departures from the previous films hurt this one:

 1) It's rated PG-13, not R. At a glance that may not be that big of a deal but, if you're a fan of RoboCop as I am, then a PG-13 rating takes a lot of the edge out of a film who's franchise never shied away from harsh language and violence. 

2) Peter Weller didn't return as RoboCop/Alex Murphy for this one and was replaced by Robert Burke. But hey, no big deal right? The actor playing RoboCop is almost completely covered by the suit, so you probably can't even tell that it's a different guy. Wrong. It's noticeable from his first line in the film that they swapped out actors and, though it never sounds quite right, I could've looked the other way if the movie was great... or good... or even just OK.

To the movie's credit, this isn't one of those sequels that has little-to-nothing to do with the previous films. The 'Delta City' project is still moving forward and the destruction of old Detroit has begun, the Police have gone on strike, and RoboCop still has the same partner Officer Anne Lewis (played by Nancy Allen).

Unfortunately, the film isn't well written, there is an annoying child computer-whiz character, Anne Lewis dies pretty early on (Spoiler Alert), and there is an underground resistance group without a single likeable character in the bunch. The movie also has a robot-ninja, which probably sounded really cool in the script but in the actual movie it's pretty lame. Add in the fact that RoboCop has a jet-pack in the film, something that was clearly added in just to sell toys, (Admittedly, I had the RoboCop jet-pack action figure as a kid) and you get a disappointing end to the RoboCop trilogy.

It's still a RoboCop movie and I love the character, which makes it hard to give it a zero.
So, I'll give this one a very unenthusiastic 1 out of 5.


Have a suggestion for a review?
Leave it in the comments below, and be sure to check out my reviews of the other RoboCop films.

RoboCop
RoboCop 2

A Look Back At: RoboCop 2

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

RoboCop 2 is the 1990 follow up to 1987's RoboCop (you can check out my review of that one here), and it suffers from what so many other sequels do: It gives you more of what you liked from the first film, tries to go bigger and bolder, but ends up unable to recapture the magic of the original.
A half-man/half-robot police officer is already a pretty nutty premise, and so what does RoboCop 2 offer? Another half-man/half-robot, except this one has the brain of a former drug dealer and is addicted to narcotics... 

Just like in the first film, Omni Consumer Products (OCP) is dead set on tearing down old, crime-riddled Detroit and, in it's place, building 'Delta City'. To increase public support for the Delta City project, OCP (who owns the Detroit Police Department) cuts the police salaries which leads to a police strike and an increase in crime. RoboCop however doesn't go on strike because he's a robot, what does he care?

 Early on, RoboCop raids a manufacturing plant where they make a new, highly-addictive drug called Nuke, and he kills all the criminals except for a kid named Hob, a character that is arguably the worst part of this movie. Meanwhile, OCP is trying to develop a "RoboCop 2", with the intention of replacing all of the police officers, and for some reason a psychologist named Dr. Juliette Faxx thinks that putting the brain of a criminal in the robot is a good idea. It isn't long before a drug lord named Cain (played by Tom Noonan) is killed and his brain is placed inside of a model 2 RoboCop. As you would expect, this was a terrible idea and creates the big villain of the film. Of course, in the end, the original RoboCop defeats the new model.

As I stated at the beginning, they tried to duplicate the success of the first film by having just as much violence and action, but somewhere in the process they forgot to write a good movie. Now, it's not unwatchable and it's definitely not as bad as RoboCop 3. There are some fun moments, decent action scenes and solid special effects, but unless you really loved the first film, I wouldn't recommend this sequel. 

I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

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leave it in the comments below.

A Look Back At RoboCop (1987)

This is one of those movies that is way better than it needs to be (Hell, just the title alone would make most people curious enough to watch it). 

The film has spawned two sequals, a reboot in 2012, an animated series, a live-action mini-series, video games, toys, and comic books. I doubt anyone foresaw that kind of an impact.

So, for those who aren't familiar with it, here's the basic story:

Detroit is a crime-filled dystopian city, (maybe the easiest setup in film history) and a company named Omni Consumer Products that has made a deal with the mayor to privatize the ineffective and underfunded the police force in exchange for the rights to tear down old sections of Detroit and build a new, safe city named 'Delta City' in it's place. One of OCP's plans for Delta City is to have a police force of robots.

Also early on we meet Alex Murphy (played by Peter Weller) who is a cop that just transfered to a South Detroit precinct. And wouldn't you know it, on his first day he gets brutally blown apart by a barrage of bullets while pursuing a gang led by Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith). But of course, he was the perfect candidate/murder victim for OCP's experimental program, and as a result RoboCop is born.

The rest of the film's plot involves corruption within OCP, the police threatening to go on strike, Boddicker's gang being funded by OCP vice president Dick Jones, RoboCop taking down criminals, another robot named ED-209... It's a ton of fun and near perfect blend of action, sci-fi, and comedy. 

This is a personal favorite of mine and one I highly recommend. 

4.5 out of 5.

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Leave it in the comments below.