has been trimmed and reworked to allow it to slide under the PG - 13 bar. That means a brutal torture/murder sequence is no more and a key battle has been reduced to a series of shaky-cam quick edits that transforms the fight into a largely incoherent series of flashes and bangs. All things considered, however, director Jose Padilha's Robocop reboot does some of the things a good remake should do: it retains the central ideas and themes of the original while updating and rearranging the narrative to lose a derivative feel.
lt; ... gt; .a science fiction action film, Robocop is mostly successful, although some of the subplots - such as Robocop s investigation into Murphy s murder - Are underdeveloped. Aside from the one battle where the fighting is obscured to mute the violence, the combat sequences are effectively choreographed, including one special effects-laden scene in which Robocop takes on a group of imposing drones. The climax is surprisingly low-key but effective nonetheless, validating the perspective that action movies do not always have to conclude with a loud bang.
s Robocop is more character-based than its predecessor. lt; ... gt; .wants to be more than an action-oriented robo-romp. It wants to provide social commentary. To that end, Padilha provides clips from a TV talk show hosted by ultra-conservative Pat Novak (Samuel L. Jackson), who champions Sellars drone program and lambastes gutless politicians who back the law banning their use. This is intended to evoke the timeless debate of how much freedom people are willing to surrender in the name of greater security, but Robocop doesn t offer anything that s new or especially thought provoking. Its points are disappointingly shallow and its attempts at satire pale in comparison to Verhoeven s edgy jabs.cast represents an intriguing blend of familiar faces and relative unknowns. lt; ... gt; Michael Keaton leaves Batman far behind to turn up the sleaze as Sellars. Gary Oldman has the most three-dimensional role, although a significant dose of ambiguity might have made Dr. Norton more interesting. lt; ... gt; .had a long and divisive journey to the screen. Originally, the remake was to be helmed by Darren Aronofsky. When he departed the project, the well-received screenplay was gutted by incoming director Padilha, who later complained of massive studio interference. Any behind-the-scenes conflicts are ultimately no more than a curiosity because the finished version, while not in the same category as the original, represents respectable midwinter entertainment. Although Robocop may not quite reach its goals, it at least aspires to be more than just another dumb, special effects-focused blockbuster, and it deserves credit not only for that but for holding the viewer s attention for two hours. (Guy Lodge ) once-mooted prospect of a Darren Aronofsky-directed RoboCop was certainly tantalizing, but producers Eric Newman and Marc Abraham were wise to secure Brazilian adrenaline-monger Padilha to take the reins here on his first English-language feature. Just as the bleakly cynical liberalism of the original RoboCop was ideally suited to Verhoeven s European perspective, so the new film benefits from a foreign helmer s distance as it sends up American right-wing security concerns with a mostly straight face. Stylistically, however, Padilha and Verhoeven are very different brands of outsider: While the Dutchman aimed to beat Hollywood at its own flashy game, the Brazilian brings a rough, street-level energy to the proceedings, sometimes to the point of affectation.
lt; ... gt; .with brilliant but ambivalent scientist Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman), OmniCorp CEO Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) hits on a solution: a robot fused with human body and brain parts that is capable of making moral judgment calls. lt; ... gt; .essential elimination of the moral conscience that makes RoboCop politically palatable is snuck through the system, and the android Murphy is a hit on the Motor City streets, while Clara grows increasingly suspicious of OmniCorp s motives. lt; ... gt; .Zetumer s script cleverly reshapes the psychological quest of the original film to fit a 21st-century American culture arguably more preoccupied with emotional intelligence than it was in the late Reagan era: Where the first film had RoboCop discovering his humanity after being conceived and introduced as a robot, his more complex goal here is to regain the human qualities he was initially given, and by which he has been advertised to the public, politicians and his family alike. lt; ... gt ;. Tellingly, as befits a humanized, Captain America-style national protector, the new RoboCop suit has a retractable visor that allows the audience access to Murphy s face earlier and more often than in the 1987 film. lt; ... gt; .Murphy s wife and child at the center of the n...
