Review of RoboCop (2014) by Bm2759 — 13 Feb 2014

First and foremost: remakes have been apart of cinema for a long time and are not going away. Some are carbon copies, some are re-imaginings and others are influenced but quite different. This film falls into the re-imagining category.

By no means should we accept them, they should be criticized and scrutinized for even being done in the first place, how relevant it is, if it's any good, and does do anything different. Comparing them whilst inevitable isn't always a good idea, i.e. because nostalgia will interfere and therefore affect how we experience the remake. In our minds we will nearly always prefer the previous version as it is more familiar to us and recalls often fond memories. What I'm trying to say is this film should be judged one it's own merits and not be compared to the original.

Pure entertainment. That's all this is. Seriously you can pic this movie apart quite easily. It is not amazing nor is it a giant turd. Is it relevant? The use of the Novac Element TV show in the film (aka Fox News) blatantly presents biased information to promote an agenda. The idea of the USA having imperialistic interests is rather obvious in this world and the real one, but many people do not acknowledge and accept this or is dismiss it entirely. This pretext used to present a future with robots as the tool of an empire is quite clever and is foreseeable.

Unfortunately this premise isn't enough to keep the audience enthralled. We simply sit comfortably and watch what unfolds. We don't really care what happens. Though we realize what to expect as the film proceeds and does become predictable. Could we really expect this film to do anything different? No of course not.

Credit goes to Samuel L. Jackson (or is it Laurence Fishburne? haha) for portraying a charismatic TV host, displaying narcissism and anger in a very believable and entertaining way. Likewise Gary Oldman as a scientist with a heart and having altruistic motives that compromises his values for opportunity and a secure future is very realistic and relateable. Michael Keaton is also noteworthy as the boss of OCP that is determined to find the product for Americans no matter the cost.

I rather enjoyed the special effects and CGI. Production values appeared quite high and I didn't notice anything bad, wrong or cheap. There is one scene that is rather confronting and impressively done mid-way through which made me feel some sympathy; I heard a person or two in the cinema giggle instead (which may be a coping mechanism to such a confrontational moment). It must be said that most of the science present is the Hollywood version of science which convenient fits the narrative is not meant to be taken seriously.

As the film draws to it's conclusion you conceive what will happen and it delivers. No surprises except that Robocops partner has a talent for being shot in non fatal areas. I wouldn't want him as my partner.

Don't expect too much.