RoboCop

If there's one thing the internet has turned to hating besides the Star Wars prequels and Twilight, it's remakes. No one wanted RoboCop to be remade as it is considered a classic action sci-fi that wasn't afraid to add some raunchiness. But there is more that meets the eye to this particular remake.

In the original film, Detective Murphy was never allowed any "humanity". The remake has more of a focus on the side of Murphy's family. It's practically a different situation. In this RoboCop world, the ED-209s and other machines have already been distributed to other countries, but are banned in the US. And countries like Iraq are sending out suicide bombers to tell the world how bad it is, only to be covered up with what must be Samuel L. Jackson's parody of Bill O'Reilly.

Acting in this film is pretty much summed up with Gary Oldman as Dr. Dennett Norton and Samuel L. Jackson as the heavily biased Pat Novak. They had solid performances, and the rest of the cast was okay. Nothing to brag about. Joel Kinnaman plays a good RoboCop, not so much Murphy. Abbie Cornish, who plays Murphy's wife Carla, has proven her ability to cry on command, as she does throughout the movie. Michael Keaton always made a great bad guy to me, he and Jay Baruchel make the meeting scenes interesting

The plot is significantly altered from it's original, as it involves the family of Murphy, and it has more substance to it. There's more to it than just revenge. Murphy isn't a mannequin put into a robotic suit, he's a head with organs, and one hand. He's struggling emotionally and physically, and I will say I cared more about this protagonist than the one from the original film. Also, Michael K. Williams plays a charismatic partner while the original Nancy Allen seems less likable.

Even the motives for creating RoboCop are different, besides the common factor of money. The aspect of American politics added in makes it more interesting, and the question of free will is a refreshingly deeper question for the audience.

Action was a bit less impressive than you'd expect. You get to see RoboCop arrest or shoot a lot of people, but it is fairly repetitive in how he does it. Nothing will ever compare to the 1987 RoboCop bold choices in both blood spurts and dark scenarios. As far as PG-13 goes, it's perfectly acceptable, but we all wanted a rated R RoboCop.

Besides the redesigning of the costume, the added plotlines, and some and a disappoint amount of blood, the remake isn't too far off from the original for me to give this a bad rating. Williams and Jackson give some of the best lines, while Kinnaman is stuck with the old catchphrases. It's a well paced, easily followed action film, that will definitely let you kill two hours.

Rating: B-