It didn't quite deliver.
Here's my breakdown of the film:
Alex Murphy is done well. The rest of the cast do a good job in their roles, though I swear Samuel L Jackson has stopped acting and just has become a parody of himself. Every time he came on screen, I thought we were getting a Capital One commercial. The roles of the doctor and Officer Lewis are reversed from the original. In this version, the doctor (Oldman) gets probably more screen time than most of the supporting cast combined, which is fine. Gary Oldman always delivers in his roles, but what is lost is the dynamic between the two partners that we had in the original movie.
The armor is updated; much sleeker, and Robocop is a lot more athletic. No more clunk clunk clunk as he plods around. Robocop can run, jump, etc. It's a nice update to the 80's version.
Michael Keaton shouldn't be cast as a bad guy. He's only done it well once before (Pacific Heights) and he just didn't do it here.
Speaking of bad guys...there isn't a central villain in this film. For hero films (super or otherwise), it is the villain that really makes the story. In the original, you had Clarence Boddicker, who was awesome. Then in the 2nd movie, you had Kane, who was fantastic. (The third Robocop film was just terrible). But there is no real main villain here. Sure, Murphy is blown up by the criminal Vallon - but Vallon has so little to do with the rest of the story, he's just a side-thought, and his death is so anti-climatic that you will miss it if you blink. Keaton - as already mentioned - just doesn't deliver as a villain.
I know, I know, the real conflict is if Murphy still has his humanity, but come on...nobody goes to see Robocop for an existential journey. Give us a good villain!!
The plot isn't too bad, and there's plenty of action (nothing like the original though). But the plot gets a bit murky at 2/3rds of the way through. So after Robocop kills Vallon and takes down the corrupt cops, he is shut down remotely and then they decide to "kill him" because...I think, because he killed one of the corrupt cops? But Gary Oldman saves the day and prevents the "termination" of Robocop, and then he proceeds to explain "everything." Robocop storms out and says "you lied to me!" But what was the lie?
It was almost like there was some other element that got cut from the film. Perhaps Murphy's injuries WEREN'T that serious and he could have lived a more normal life? That would have been more in keeping with the original films. But we don't get that. We just get that Robocop is mad because he was lied to and then he goes off to kill Michael Keaton.
The final scenes are great and terrible. It's great as he battles the super-robots guarding Omnicorp's headquarters and then has to get by Mattox. Great action, great choreographing (I know, CGI, but still, enjoyable to watch).
But the climax on top of the building....what? We just learn that anybody with a Red Chip is off-limits to Robocop. The Red Chip (dot, whatever) is one of the first rules established in the film, and it is literally reinforced only about 3 minutes prior to Robocop using sheer will to violate his 4th directive. How? How is he able to shoot Michael Keaton? I felt like they could have done something creative here. Remember in the first one when he killed Dick Jones after he was fired by the old man? That worked great.
What's also missing is the humor. Sure, Samuel L Jackson provides some, but it runs dry quickly and honestly, it is repetitive.
All in all, this isn't a bad movie to watch. If you were a fan of the original, you'll enjoy seeing the story retold, but this doesn't improve on the original.
Here's my breakdown of the film:
Alex Murphy is done well. The rest of the cast do a good job in their roles, though I swear Samuel L Jackson has stopped acting and just has become a parody of himself. Every time he came on screen, I thought we were getting a Capital One commercial. The roles of the doctor and Officer Lewis are reversed from the original. In this version, the doctor (Oldman) gets probably more screen time than most of the supporting cast combined, which is fine. Gary Oldman always delivers in his roles, but what is lost is the dynamic between the two partners that we had in the original movie.
The armor is updated; much sleeker, and Robocop is a lot more athletic. No more clunk clunk clunk as he plods around. Robocop can run, jump, etc. It's a nice update to the 80's version.
Michael Keaton shouldn't be cast as a bad guy. He's only done it well once before (Pacific Heights) and he just didn't do it here.
Speaking of bad guys...there isn't a central villain in this film. For hero films (super or otherwise), it is the villain that really makes the story. In the original, you had Clarence Boddicker, who was awesome. Then in the 2nd movie, you had Kane, who was fantastic. (The third Robocop film was just terrible). But there is no real main villain here. Sure, Murphy is blown up by the criminal Vallon - but Vallon has so little to do with the rest of the story, he's just a side-thought, and his death is so anti-climatic that you will miss it if you blink. Keaton - as already mentioned - just doesn't deliver as a villain.
I know, I know, the real conflict is if Murphy still has his humanity, but come on...nobody goes to see Robocop for an existential journey. Give us a good villain!!
The plot isn't too bad, and there's plenty of action (nothing like the original though). But the plot gets a bit murky at 2/3rds of the way through. So after Robocop kills Vallon and takes down the corrupt cops, he is shut down remotely and then they decide to "kill him" because...I think, because he killed one of the corrupt cops? But Gary Oldman saves the day and prevents the "termination" of Robocop, and then he proceeds to explain "everything." Robocop storms out and says "you lied to me!" But what was the lie?
It was almost like there was some other element that got cut from the film. Perhaps Murphy's injuries WEREN'T that serious and he could have lived a more normal life? That would have been more in keeping with the original films. But we don't get that. We just get that Robocop is mad because he was lied to and then he goes off to kill Michael Keaton.
The final scenes are great and terrible. It's great as he battles the super-robots guarding Omnicorp's headquarters and then has to get by Mattox. Great action, great choreographing (I know, CGI, but still, enjoyable to watch).
But the climax on top of the building....what? We just learn that anybody with a Red Chip is off-limits to Robocop. The Red Chip (dot, whatever) is one of the first rules established in the film, and it is literally reinforced only about 3 minutes prior to Robocop using sheer will to violate his 4th directive. How? How is he able to shoot Michael Keaton? I felt like they could have done something creative here. Remember in the first one when he killed Dick Jones after he was fired by the old man? That worked great.
What's also missing is the humor. Sure, Samuel L Jackson provides some, but it runs dry quickly and honestly, it is repetitive.
All in all, this isn't a bad movie to watch. If you were a fan of the original, you'll enjoy seeing the story retold, but this doesn't improve on the original.