Movie Matts Movie Reviews RoboCop (2014) Dead of alive, youre coming with me. This one line acquainted Peter Weller with the title character in 1987. Since then, there has been two sequels, two TV Shows, and an animated series. But by the early 2000s, the franchise was near dead and nobody was rushing to revive RoboCop. So when the idea of a remake arose, fans were outraged that yet another 80s Sci-Fi classic was hitting the reboot button. For a while, I felt that it was completely unnecessary and that it would be a quick cash grab. But after seeing RoboCop (2014), I actually found some enjoyment in the story. No matter what we do, there will always be crime. The American public relies on our boys in blue, but what happens when they cant get the job done? This is where Omni Corp CEO Raymond Sellers (Michael Keaton) and Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman) come in. The public does not emit a positive approach to letting a machine patrol the streets. Seeing how they want to have a human mind behind the justice system, these two get an idea, put a man inside a machine. The timing couldnt be more perfect than now as Det. Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is gravely injured by a detonator that was left in his car. But as Murphy gets used to the suit, its a constant struggle to see who is really in control, man or machine. Initially, I was very hesitant on whether this remake would suck or do the original justice. Im surprised to say that I liked it. Unlike Peter Weller, you have a considerable amount of screen time with Kinnaman as Murphy. You start to get a feel of who he is and what his morals are and how they are constantly tested by Omni Corp. Honestly, who can say anything bad about Gary Oldman? Hes a vital element to Murphys struggle as he is the only person that can understand where he comes from. But lets be honest, Michael Keaton was great. Its rare when you see him in a film nowadays so, Ill take his character for who he is. My main issues have to do with some uninteresting characters, pacing issues, and the lackluster action. I was more intrigued by the social commentary about how technology is starting to shape the world that we live in. In closing, RoboCop has a fair amount of flaws, but is enjoyable nonetheless. B-
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 03:41:55 +0000