Some have called the new RoboCop the most "unnecessary reboot ever." Forever ever? Oh, I get it — it’s hyperbole, right? Like, "I’d rather get shot in the head by the dad from That ‘70s Show than listen to your whiny nostalgia-drenched nerd rage?"
Certain RoboCop diehards have the idea that the original is a piece of high-brow cinema. "It’s social commentary and satire!" But, that doesn’t make it smart or high art. What is the intellectual value of Murphy’s porno-gor-ific death in the ‘87 original? Or the flash of bare breasts in the police locker room? Or the toxic waste bath that turns one baddie into a melting, gooey mess of walking flesh?
It’s a comic book on the screen, so lighten up. It was a black comedy that poked fun of corporatization, consumerism, media and government, but it was also a super-silly ultra-violent action movie intended to entertain. This is a franchaise that has sold action figures and cheeseburgers and video games, and, I’d say, it shouldn’t be held so high as to consider any attempt at reinterpretation (even a dreaded PG-13 take on it) as cinema sacrilege. After all, as RoboCop reboot head bad guy OmniCorp CEO (Michael Keaton) says about changing Robo’s paintjob from showy silver to tactical black: “People don’t actually know what they want until you show it to them.”
I'd buy that for a dollar.
So, take a deep breath and hear me out. Believe it or not, there are some things the new RoboCop does well... after the jump!