#13 ROBOCOP

#13 ROBOCOP

Starring Joel Kinnaman,  Michael Keaton, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Samual L. Jackson and Jackie Earle Haley.

121 minutes long and Directed by José Padilha.

This took five writers to piece together, Frankenstein-style including: Edward Neumeier, Nick Schenk, James Vanderbilt, Michael Miner, Joshua Zetumer.

I decided from the start not to compare this remake to the original, or at the very least I made a concerted effort not too, trouble is by the end of it, I couldn't help myself. I've read several reviews of this film and the running theme seems to be that people reviewed it favourably because it wasn't the train wreck of a movie they thought it was going to be, much in the same way that they reviewed Revenge of the Sith and said, 'it's not as awful as Attack of the Clowns'.

Well, it's fair to say this isn't a train wreck, nor is it as bad as I thought it was going to be.

The story is much safer for a 21st Century audience that's also much younger than the 1987 version and that befits a 12a certificate film, so there's no blood, gore or boobies, can't have the minds of teenagers corrupted by the sight of a nork, watching people being shot to death, blown up and bludgeoned is okay though but not tits, not that there were a lot in the first film but still. I digress.

Plot wise, Detroit cop, Alex Murphy is investigated a crime lord with links to the police dept when he is targeted by a bomb that leaves him in a coma and horribly disfigured (but not for long, this is a 12a after all), his loving wife, Abbie Cornish signs him over to OCP and the tender mercies of good doctor Gary Oldman and before you can say, 'lose the arm', he's a walking talking law-enforcement robot, trying to reconnect with his family and son, while solving his own murder.

A large portion of this film, and argubly the best part is the OCP behind the scene discussions and development of the Robocop technology, where OCP try to win a political struggle to legalise robots on the streets of America. What's less successful is the action which is almost entirely given away in the trailer. There's also a deeply annoying 3rd act arrival of the need for a huge shoot-out that sees Michael Keaton's, up until then's excellent CEO of OCP go from being a brainy and driven money man to the usual gun totting baddie.

In terms of the new suit and such, I have no problem with that aspect, although I missed Peter Weller's robotic walk. Overall, there' too much CGI, too little action, a tad too much waffle but that doesn't turn this into a train-wreck movie. It's far better than last year's appalling Total Recall remake but sadly not a patch on the original and far superior Robocop.

7/10

FOOTNOTE.

After returning home from seeing this, I stuck on the original Robocop and was blown away by it! So perfect, so well made, directed and edited and the script at a gorgeous102 minutes if word perfect and it still packs a solid wallop. Oh and the effects are a million times more convincing.

Robocop 1987

10/10