RoboCop (2014) –PG-13

Running Time: 117 min

Director: José Padilha

Main Actors: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton

Rating: 5

I don’t know much about the old RoboCop movies, other than their hardcore violence, but I’m positive that this one differed a bit from the old time line. Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is a cop from Detroit who has the tendency to play it solo rather than wait for backup. Of course, this trend can’t lead up to anything good and, as anyone who knows anything about the general story; it ultimately leads to Murphy’s almost destruction. He is saved, however, by being outfitted in a mechanical suit and all that jazz.

See, the plot of the old films were brilliant; it would have done much more justice if they had stuck to the old script. But other than nods to the films from 1987, this version stuck to a completely different issue. In fact, there wasn’t a clear villain. Due to current day fears and ideologies, the biggest worry of the story wasn’t the blatant good vs. evil fight between man and man, but the overall corruption of society and government. And it’s difficult to make an interesting, dynamite movie whose main villain is an ideology. It’s hard to pinpoint and it’s hard to defeat.

I adore the look and style of this new Robocop, however. It may not back up the great look with a great theme, but movie makers have mastered the style of color contrast. There is a scene which almost gave me a headache, actually, a firefight set in the dark, in which you can only see the light from Robocop’s helm and the shots. Although it was hard to watch at times simply because of the strain on the eyes due to the strobe lights (seizure warning, anyone?), this cinematic style is absolutely a modern American idea of the types of things the future holds. This visual tactic of neon strobe added to the overall theme of man vs society encompasses our modern day version of hardcore. It’s not enough to fight men anymore; our greatest enemies in the future are technology and the future itself. Why do you think we’re so fascinated with dystopian fiction right now?

Actor wise, RoboCop was a bit over equipped. Kinnaman was a decent fit for the main role; he isn’t well known, yet he doesn’t have a solemn enough look to fit quite perfectly. Gary Oldman played the other main role, and his reputation in cinema fits quite well for the role he assumes; likeable, yet sometimes a bit too soft spoken for his own good. Frankly, Samuel L. Jackson needs to step off for a few movies. His role in the Avengers films has worn his role as spokesman for communities, and his role in this film as sensationalist reporter Pat Novak is a bit too much. Jay Baruchel is one of my favorite voice actors, and it was great to actually see him play a small comedic relief in this intense action film.

To generalize the whole movie as mediocre is a bit painful. I enjoyed the special effects and the overall theme that it was trying to convey, but the unclear conflict and occasional forced plot makes it come up a bit short of a good movie.