RoboCop (2014)

The 2014 remake of RoboCop has had everything working against it, fan backlash over the MPAA rating, the new suit, the new Murphy, you name it, it's already been crucified for it. Now that it is so close to being released and screenings are taking place, I highly anticipate a flood of negative reviews coming in because this film was an utter disgrace. Having caught this at an early screening, I can honestly say that it is an extremely painful watch. From the minute it starts, it gave me the strange reminder of Len Wiseman's Total Recall and how awful a remake that was. This Verhoven remake is no different. RoboCop shows fans of the original just how neutered Hollywood studios have become. Instead of an intelligent screenplay, we are handed a half baked story with too many back stories to follow, sub plots get thrown into the mix and never materialize to anything except bloating the running time. The incoherent story makes RoboCop a tough movie to like. While the film isn't hard to follow due to the excessive use of CGI and action, it still is so far from the 1987 original that I wouldn't even call this a remake. A reboot would be more fitting, either way, this film dies mid way through and we're left with an hour that seems like it is three. Jose Padhilla, who came to fame with Elite Squad and Elite Squad 2 does the best he can with the screenplay. On higher notes, the film does feature strong action sequence that are filmed in the vein of a Michael Mann film, which is interesting to see considering the kind of film it is. Padhilla shows that he isn't just another hack director and he tries to elevate RoboCop from a terrible screenplay into a good film and it doesn't work, unfortunately. The performances are, for the most part, lukewarm. The main problem with the actors in RoboCop is that they are not consistent. Our new Murphy is played actually quite well by Joel Kinnamen. Kinnamen brings humanity to Murphy along with a sense of suppressed rage that sits behind his eyes, it's quite amazing. Abbie Cornish is the weakest link here, turning in such a monotone performance as Murphy's wife. The scenes between Kinnaman and her are so forced that they're uncomfortable to watch. We see Kinnaman going the distance but Cornish never seems to want to meet him halfway. Now, the true standout here is Michael Keaton. Keaton is a show stopper in this film, giving off a very Ari Gold persona (for you Entourage fans). He is quite good at portraying an absolute slime ball that only has money on his mind. It really is a true joy to watch him act in this film, it's just an absolute shame that the film is nowhere near as entertaining as him. And now to my biggest gripe...SAMUEL L. JACKSON. Jackson is hands down the most out of place component here, more so than Cornish. While he tries to replace the "Imd buy that for a dollar" guy from the original, he only brings the film down with a pseudo-intellectual speech about America being crime ridden and "robophobic", as the trailer indicates, yet by the end, he is a hybrid of the news anchors and TV personality from the first and it comes out to disastrous results. If Jackson wasn't in this film, I'm sure I would have given this a higher rating. Not because I have anything against Jackson personally but more so his character is so underused in the film that it borders being useless.

Overall, RoboCop is not anywhere close to being as good as the first (or second for that matter) and lacks the satirical edge that made the first a classic. The bottom line is that this is not a good film, it features some good qualities but they are largely overshadowed by poor performances, a lacking script and a ridiculous amount of CGI. This is just another example of how NOT to do a remake, maybe after this one, Hollywood will learn...but I doubt it.