Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton
Directed by: José Padilha
Written by: Joshua Zetumer, Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Action
No spoilers here!
This reboot is no match for Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 version starring Peter Weller as the original ROBOCOP. In short, this new version lacked charm. For me, this was not an enjoyable movie-going experience. Even though the 1987 version had tons of violence like this version did, the original Robocop had a fun and light-hearted nature to it. I rooted for and cared about Peter Weller and Robocop. In other words, the ’87 version remained a human story while this latest version was darker and way too heavy handed. Furthermore, I didn’t care for Samuel L. Jackson’s loudmouth, preachy character Pat Novak at all. This may have been the tipping point for me and why I cannot recommend this movie.
On the bright side, Gary Oldman’s and Michael Keaton’s performances stood out as the best things about this movie. Together they gave some legitimacy to this film and I wanted to see more of their characters on screen. In fact I’m quite certain if Jackson’s part was edited out or if his character contributed something to the story, I’d probably would have different feelings about this ROBOCOP.
To sum up: 1987 = Good Robocop. 2014 = Bad Robocop.
