Review: Robocop (2014)

Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman ) is a cop, a bloody good cop at that, but unfortunately he gets exploded and what’s left of him encased in metal. Lo, he becomes Robocop: a cybernetic force of good who kicks ass and eats bad guys for breakfast.

Therein lies the basic premise of both the original and new Robocop, and in the case of Paul Verhoevens schlocky 80’s classic, a razor sharp rumination on themes as varied as political corruption, authoritarianism and human nature; chock full of satire, wonderfully gory action and, most importantly, oodles of fun.

Although this new reimagining does touch base with all the above, it never quite comes close to matching it in any meaningful way, let alone surpassing it. But, after a spree of awful and pointless remakes recently (Total Recall, anyone?), Robocop is actually, when all is said and done, not bad at all.

Much like the central character himself, Robocop (2014) is a well put together, glossy bit of kit; but ultimately you have to question how much free will director José Padilha actually had in its genesis, and how much of its DNA was imposed by the suited bods in the office upstairs.

Narratively it’s smart and snappy and you can’t deny that much thought has clearly gone into the story, which deviates from the original in some new and interesting ways. Likewise, it looks great, with top level effects and shiny cinematography making it consistently great to watch. However tonally it veers wildly and that’s where the main problems lay.

Specifically, it often seems like the film-makers couldn't decide what they wanted the film to be, so they just crammed all the ideas in there for good measure: one minute it’s soft and mournful, next it's all whizz bang spectacle, then a bit of ham handed political satire for luck. Although it’s hard to fault the intent, the sometimes sharp philosophical musings just don’t sit well with the loud, forgettable action and are often undermined by it. Likewise, the strange decision to use the original theme music is very distracting and feels like an attempt to remind us of the original, rather than give the new film something of its own.

That being said, Padilha has assembled a great cast here and they all make a decent effort with the material they're given. A particular tip of the hat must go to Michael Keaton as a dodgy CEO with the lions share of the best lines, and his partner as most valuable player, Gary Oldman who shares most of the screen time with Keaton as a good-egg Doctor. Both light up the screen, and it's hard to imagine the film would be half as watchable without their efforts. Likewise, Samuel L Jackson is a pleasure in his small role hamming it up as rush Limbaugh-like political commentator.

Elsewhere, though the remaining cast don't really fair quite as well, especially poor Joel Kinnaman as the titular tin man who just isn't given anything meaningful to do aside from mumble and shoot.

So it's a fairly entertaining movie then, mostly elevated by some good performances and slick gloss, but it's hard to escape the feeling that it could have been so much more if only they'd just let it be a little more... human.

3/5

~This review was originally written for York Vision~