Review of RoboCop (2014) by Gamed2Long — 03 Mar 2014

Is this another reboot which is worse than the original? Categorically yes. The original Robocop is a biting satire of its time, projecting corporate greed and industry run amok into the future.

The new robocop is about something. I guess there is supposed to be some kind of issue at what point do people loose their humanity and just become machines. Somewhere it went wrong though because its execution makes for a forgettable if not outright bad flick. But this is a flick.

Gary Oldman gives a terrific performance, and Michael Keaton goes above and beyond as the visionary CEO of OCP. He's far too likable for the 3rd act radical twist. It actually seems out of character for both the actor and the character when that happens.

I'd say the 3rd act twist is so poorly executed audiences will wonder why Robocop is turning on his masters so suddenly. Although admittedly the special effects extravaganza which follows is quite the thing to see.

I appreciate they wanted to appeal to wider audiences, and thus went for a PG 13 rating but that was clearly a mistake. It leaves the fight scenes too sanitized to have any real impact.

And as much as Samuel L. Jackson is a terrific charismatic actor, it was a mistake for all the news scenes to be by him. In the original film the brief news clip bits effectively portray the world in a subtly bias, and comedic way. Samuel L. Jackson portraying an amalgamation of right wing news pundits is monstrous, yet less effective because it is coming from such a clearly bias source. And you really feel it is less a news show and more an lazy narration directed at the viewer.

The character of the wife is one note. Maybe she should be more panicked in one scene, more concerned in another. Instead of a generic sad emotional mess.

All and all. Don't pay top dollar for this film when it comes out on DVD. It'll be in the $5 or less bin soon enough.