Sleeker and Weaker

RoboCop (2014) is the soulless remake to an 80’s juggernaut no one needed. Paul Verhoeven is no stranger to people who don’t understand his work. So it was only a matter of time before RoboCop was rebooted. He’s practically a superhero anyway. As if they didn’t learn their lesson, RoboCop is gutted once again for a blockbuster friendly PG-13 rating. Missing the point of the brutal hard R satire all over again. Only now so much could have been done with the gritty approach they went with. Like everyone else, I didn’t see RoboCop (2014) in theaters, but I’ll admit it looked cool.

Until you realize how lifeless and robotic RoboCop is… before becoming a cyborg. With stars as big as Michael Keaton, Gary Oldman, and Samuel L. Jackson, they seriously went with someone as bland as Joel Kinnaman to play Alex Murphy. One interesting difference is having his wife & son play an active role in his story, but no emotion comes out of it. Rather than sadistic creeps taking down Murphy, a boring car bomb nearly kills him. The newly named OmniCorp rebuilds him with all his memories left in tact.

Until he’s randomly stripped of emotion like the original only to regain them again. His now black male partner Lewis doesn’t play a role in any of it. Instead it’s just emotionless family turmoil with a little action thrown in. Although unforgivably bloodless, the motorcycle riding shoot em’ up Detroit action is about all they get right. His trademark bulky grey armor is just ditched for a generic sleek black design with a single human hand for some reason. Commentary is present, but it’s just Jackson screaming with bleeped out swears. RoboCop (2014) is proof nothing can ever touch the original.

RoboCop takes aim

Remake of: RoboCop (1987)