14 DAY TRIAL // Hollywood is into reboots as much as it’s into sequels, prequels or any other spinoffs of a solid release, and whether we like it or not, they’re going to keep coming out at a rapid pace. This considered, it’s almost surprising that it took so long to get a “RoboCop” reboot, this one directed by José Padilha on a script by Joshua Zetumer.
Padilha’s directorial credits include cop thrillers “Elite Squad” and its sequel, so having him on board a project as cherished by fans as “RoboCop” would seem like an excellent idea. Having him work on such a faulty and uneven script ruined it.
While it’s not fair to compare a reboot to its original, especially for the viewers of the former if they have not seen the latter, in certain cases, when we’re dealing with an original so solid, so witty and so well executed as the 1987 “RoboCop,” you can’t but do just that. And the 2014 iteration of the man-machine Detroit cop comes up short by it.
As the saying goes, just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should.
The action is set in 2028 in Detroit, a city said to be the most violent in the country even though you would not know it if you weren’t told so by one of the characters. Alex Murphy (TV star and big screen newcomer Joel Kinnaman) and Jack Lewis (Michael K. Williams, Omar from “The Wire,” now working for the good guys) are two cops determined to go up against all odds to see justice served.
Inevitably, this means crossing the wrong drug lord, who orders a hit on Murphy and thus nearly kills him. As luck would have it, while this is going on, OmniCorp, the largest robot and weapons manufacturer in the world, is looking to branch out on the American market as well, and putting a man inside a machine would offer them just the way to bypass a law that forbids robots from being let loose on the streets.
Murphy becomes RoboCop with his wife’s (Abbie Cornish) consent, and he is now the first police officer who is part robot, part human – or, at least, that’s the story that OmniCorp top honcho Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) is selling to the American public. Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman), who created “Tin Man,” knows that he’s just a piece of software inside a robot, controlling the robot and offering whatever’s left of Murphy (which is not much, by the way) the illusion of free will.
The only place where the new “RoboCop” excels is in its approach of the years-old debate of man vs. machine, and its presentation of the current way in which marketing interests and politics intertwine, sometimes to the expense of the regular Joe and Jane, who are often sacrificed without as much as a second thought to achieve wealth and fortune.
These two themes are rendered perfectly with some help from narrator / TV presenter Pat Novak (Samuel L. Jackson), who represents the biased, sensationalist media. All writing for Novak’s speeches is brilliant – but that’s as far as you go in terms of glowing praise for the script of this film.
Though it starts off in a solid fashion, with a gorgeous scene set abroad, where robots are being used to keep the “peace,” the narrative falls apart shortly afterwards, after Murphy’s accident. Momentum is never sustained and the narrative doesn’t allow for any human emotion despite the fact that, by all means, it should have been encouraged.
Kinnaman and Cornish work with truncated dialog and, let’s be real, there’s only so much you can bring to a part with your eyes. The supporting cast also feels wasted because they’re never really allowed to show their full range, with the only exceptions being Oldman and Jackson, albeit for very short spells.
Add to that the fact that VFX have a certain unfinished air in many a scene, and you get the clear sensation that, while duly enjoyable, this reboot doesn’t have any redeeming qualities, the story being lifted from the original.
Kudos to the writers and producers though for including two separate suits, one that is a tribute to the 1987 version, and another that is more sleek and modern. On the downside, moments like this one are so few and spaced out that they hardly make up for the loud, bumpy story that plays out on the big screen.
“RoboCop” is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action including frenetic gun violence throughout, brief strong language, sensuality and some drug material. It’s already running in France and the UK as of February 5, and in the US as of January 12, and will end its run in the Dominican Republic on March 27.
