Review of RoboCop (2014) by Paul F — 09 Jan 2017

Originally released in 1987, RoboCop has garnered a huge fan base and the reboot was eagerly anticipated by both the old guard of 80's action fans and a new generation of movie goers. So Padilha has his task cut out for him, could he satisfy both factions? Unfortunately the answer is no and it would be surprising if either group were satisfied with the finished product.

It seems like yet another case of the-man-behind-the-curtain syndrome, most notably in the decision to aim for a PG13 rating, against Padilha's wishes, in order to ensure a film that went severely over budget recoups some of its investment.

I agree that graphic violence is not necessary in order to make a good action movie, just look at The Dark Knight or Star Trek, but RoboCop falls short of the mark here and delivers a very placid final product.

It can be argued that's what happens when the creative control is limited but perhaps hiring a director who's previous work is rated 18+ was the greater mistake. The cast however is strong and Kinnaman(The Killing) executes his role efficiently, with support from veteran actors Oldman, Keaton and Jackson but even this solid foundation seemed somewhat hollow.

In a throwback to the satirical nature, that flowed seamlessly throughout the original, Jackson's portrayal of the rhetoric spewing media mogul appears a little disjointed and does little to add to an already inferior reboot.

In total RoboCop 2014 does its best to recreate a character that criminals of Detroit should fear but in the end only offers us a modern day Tin-Man and by the closing credits I could not help but think, 'I wouldn't buy that for a dollar'.