In the perfect world it would be amazing if you could watch a movie without prior knowledge of any movie that came before if. Only then it would be possible to let the movie lead you and not notice each and every cliché you have seen in other films. The problem a remake has is that everyone knows the original version and will obviously compare the two. Usually the original wins in that comparison. After Total Recall, Robocop is the second Paul Verhoeven movie that gets remade. Verhoeven said in an interview I had with him that he thought the remake of Total Recall wasn’t good because that light touch he put in it had been removed. He also saw that danger for this movie when it was still in production. The question is if this remake is worth checking out.
The story in which police officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is changed into Robocop doesn’t deviate too much of the original movie, which has a cult status thanks to its dark sense of humour and jokes about society. That dark feeling isn’t present in this remake.
OmniCorp, the company which is responsible for creating Robocop, has been very successful with its fighting robots outside of the U.S. They would also like to deploy them in America, but can’t because the law forbids it. The company see Robocop as a way to change public opnion and start making money on their home turf. The company is run by Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton), a businessman who only cares about money and isn’t interested in questions related to ethics. He doesn’t allow Murphy’s wife to visit her husband and tries to do everything to make sure his development team, whose head is Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman), can’t find the next breakthrough as quickly as possible. Meanwhile it is Robocop who wants to start investigating something he should not, finding out who is responsible for putting him in the suit.
This new Robocop movie has turned into a modern action film in which a lot happens and which has moments that reference the original. The colors of the suit are the same initially and even “I’d buy that for a dollar” get re-used in a slightly different way. The movie doesn’t have a lot of jokes and mainly plays it straight and is more about the drama. Of course you can’t help but compare this film with the original. In that comparison the original still is the better movie, but this new version is not as bad as I initially expected.
I was quite surprised with this one as well. Remakes get such bad rep lately that the new material gets judged even before it hits the cinema. I saw the original Robocop before catching the remake, and both are good material in their own way. I thought that the tones of both flicks differ, with the remake focusing on the action thriller side of things, as opposed to the original, which had a humorous tone to it. The way that the material was tackled became the primary difference that you can’t say you’re exactly watching the same movie (though its essence is similar), but it still can’t be helped to compare versions.
Exactly, I wanted to give it a fair chance. The tone is definitely different and agree with your description.
It’s exactly what you say. The trick is not to compare it with the original. I thought this was a great action movie. Great effects and not a lot of similarities with the Paul Verhoeven movie.
Thanks Paul
It’s bad even for a remake. What I hated the most is how flat Murphy’s personality was. I mean, you’re making a movie about a person with a mechanical body. He wasn’t turned into a robot entirely, he still had his mind. (“If I only had a heart” theme from the Wizard of Oz, was a nice touch in the movie, btw) I think he should’ve been more distinctive. This is what I’ve based my review on. This movie could have a bit of drama to add to the sci-fi, action side of it, but Padilha failed to pursue this IMHO.
Obviously we have different opinions about the movie. This was more of an action movie and like you say the drama part wasn’t as pronounced…
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