RoboCop
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writer: Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner
Cast: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Felton Perry, Paul McCrane
Plot:
Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) just started in Detroit’s police force – an extremely dangerous job, considering the state Detroit is in. But he gets along well with his partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) and they are quickly right in the middle of things. But as they confront a street gang though, everything goes wrong and Murphy is shot dead. Which makes him the perfect subject for a new project by OmniCorp, a huge robotics corporation. They take Murphy’s body and rebuild it with robotic parts, creating the RoboCop who takes on crime in Detroit, firmly under OmniCorp’s thumb.
RoboCop is probably one of those 80s action flicks you have to grow up with to appreciate them fully (like Die Hard or Terminator). I didn’t and watching RoboCop now certainly didn’t make me see its greatness.
There were things I appreciated about the film. I really liked Lewis as a character and the non-chalance with which she was introduced as a woman and as a complete equal to Murphy. (I was about to type that if this movie were made today, there would have been sexual tension between the two and Lewis would have been made a sex bomb. But this movie was made today and it turns out they just made Lewis male.)
I also liked some of the bits that were just so completely overblown that they crossed through ridiculous and came out straight in the glorious area, like with the toxic waste scene. And the way they had RoboCop waking up was done very well. And I really liked what we got to see of the media. That was some nice, if unsubtle worldbuilding.
But the rest of the film was just a little boring and a little too much. I couldn’t take the gangsters seriously, neither as humans nor as a threat, because they were just too cartoonish. The pacing didn’t work either, turning Murphy into RoboCop too quickly and then dragging on. I was also a little alienated by the fact that they completely ignored Murphy’s family.
Maybe my error was to expect a film that was actually good (despite Verhoeven). But even if I had expected a so bad it’s good movie, R0boCop would have still been pretty boring.
Summarizing: Eh. More no than yes.
kalafudra's Stuff 
Wait, what, you don’t like Verhoeven? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sold on all of his movies either, but he did make some classics, and at least, he has a clear, distinct voice – unlike many hacks working today.
Concerning “Robocop”: While I did grow up on it and certainly enjoyed and enjoy it more than you did, I’m not on the “masterpiece”-camp. As I’ve said before a couple of times: Not every classic is also necessarily a masterpiece. This falls right into this category. What I like about the movie is the criticism of corporate america, it’s satirical side (even though, as you said, it’s far from subtle), Murphy’s journey back to humanity, his relationship with Anne Lewis (who in the hands of another director would have been either a typical love interest or a guy; see Robocop 2014), and how it’s a comment on USA’s fascination with guns and violence. Because of that, everything in the movie is heightened and exxagerated – thus the cartoonish villans (which I definitely prefer to the lackluster, unimpressive ones from the remake; but we’ll talk about that when you get there, which I assume will be pretty soon ;-) ). Yes, it has pacing issues, and I do believe that a little bit more would have been possible in the directing department (it’s rather plain in that regard). Other than that, I still like it very much.
Nope, Verhoeven is not my thing. I did like Total Recall but that’s pretty much it. (Though I haven’t seen Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers in forever and can hardly remember them. It might be different now. Showgirls I remember very clearly and no.) Though I agree that he has a strong voice. You recognize Verhoeven at least.
It’s true that not every classic is a masterpiece and I see why RoboCop became a classic. But it’s a distanced, remote judgment on my part and not something I actually experienced. If you know what I mean. Thus I agree with your assessments of the strengths of the film but the film still couldn’t really hold my attention and keep me engaged.
(And yes, my other RoboCop review will be posted tomorrow. :))
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What? Boring? Are you sure? I had a blast and it didn’t bore me at all, like most of Verhoeven’s flicks.
Naja, die Sabine würd sagen: “das is halt ein Bubenfilm” =)
I like many “boys’ movies” but I didn’t click with this one. I guess you can’t win them all. ;)
2014-03-11 9:27 GMT+01:00 Stuff :
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