ROBOCOP

To say that I was not enthusiastic going into this film is an understatement. My last encounter with a big budget remake, Clash of the Titans, did not exactly inspire confidence in the ability of Hollywood to deal with such an iconic character like Robocop. Imagine my surprise therefore when this film actually makes and effort to bring itself above simply being an action movie. They’re helped in this by the performances of the two main cast members, first and foremost Joel Kinnamen as Alex Murphy. Performing as he does - mostly through facial expressions and voice intonations - Kinnamen really gets empathy from a character that, if played a little differently, might have come across as emotionless or just dull. Abbie Cornish plays Alex’s wife and shows a great deal of pain and turmoil as she struggles to find the man within the machine. Cast wise the only stumbling block is Michael Keaton as the film’s villain. It’s hard to pin down whether it’s Keaton’s performance or the script but he just seems to come across as someone reacting to events and flying by the seat of his pants rather than the evil puppet master he’s supposed to be. A more credible villain might have been Samuel L Jackson, who though mainly a spin doctor used for exposition purposes, plays the part with more menace than Keaton. The main reason this remake works, however, is (villain motivations aside) the script. The original Robocop movies were a clever satire on the culture of the day; this obviously could not be used for a modern remake. Rather than leave a gaping hole we get a modern issue put in its place – the use of drones. Drone warfare has become a big issue in recent times and this sits rather effectively with the Robocop narrative with the political pundits wondering how they can “sell” the idea of drones to the American people. Of course all this is delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but it’s not like the original films were models of restraint. One thing that might have been left out was the usual ‘America as a world police’ idea that looks rather crowbarred into the film. Isn’t the drone warfare issue enough. FINAL VERDICT 7/10 it might not be the original but it stands solidly on its own two metallic feet.