Robocop (12A.)
Directed by José Padilha.
Starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jackie Earle Haley and Samuel L. Jackson. 118 mins.
Paul Verhoeven has been bemoaning the number of his films that Hollywood has been remaking but with the exception of Basic Instinct and his masterpiece Starship Troopers I don’t think he ever made a film which wasn’t worth another go at. Of course there’s no point doing it if, like with Total Recall, you’re just going to do much the same film again but worse, but this new Robocop does everything that a remake should.
It keeps what was good in the original – the jaunty satire; dumps what was unnecessary – the slavering violence; and upgrades what is now dated – the special effects which were pre-CGI and distinctly Harryhausen in places. This new one is sharper and more human.
It opens with a news reporter covering Operation Freedom Tehran, where the kind of robot law enforcers featured in the original film are out keeping the streets safe for freedom loving Iranians. Back in the States a Fox News style pundit Pat Novak (Jackson) is pushing for these robotic enforcers to be used on the lawless streets of mainland USA. As yet though their producers OmniCorp can’t make the American public see the benefits of using their product at home. What they need is a human face to aid their market penetration, which is provided when Detroit hero cop Murphy (Kinnaman) is blown up and nearly killed.
It’s an enticing subversive notion – that the US public could be persuaded to be subjected domestically to the same shock’n’awe tactics they have applied in their foreign policy. The film doesn’t quite follow through on that bold idea but Brazilian director Padilha (Elite Squad) makes sure it is always alert and engaging. It’s also much less of an action film than you’d expect. Robocop isn’t unleashed till way into the second half and then the sequences feel a bit rushed. It is more interested in character and story. Swedish actor Kinnaman (Easy Money) is a much more human presence than Peter Weller. (The new black suit makes him look a bit Daft Punk though.)
The original Robocop was Verhoeven’s first American film. He was part of a wave of European directors such as Renny Harlin and Roland Emmerich in the late 80s and 90s who were drafted over to give Hollywood films that amount of extreme violence the domestic market demanded. They were like the Nazi scientists used to help the space programme. Now Hollywood is pulling in directors from around the world (Padilla or Neill Blomkamp) to produce the kind of 12A action with an anti-American slant that the new global market craves.
.
Directed by José Padilha.
Starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jackie Earle Haley and Samuel L. Jackson. 118 mins.
Paul Verhoeven has been bemoaning the number of his films that Hollywood has been remaking but with the exception of Basic Instinct and his masterpiece Starship Troopers I don’t think he ever made a film which wasn’t worth another go at. Of course there’s no point doing it if, like with Total Recall, you’re just going to do much the same film again but worse, but this new Robocop does everything that a remake should.
It keeps what was good in the original – the jaunty satire; dumps what was unnecessary – the slavering violence; and upgrades what is now dated – the special effects which were pre-CGI and distinctly Harryhausen in places. This new one is sharper and more human.
It opens with a news reporter covering Operation Freedom Tehran, where the kind of robot law enforcers featured in the original film are out keeping the streets safe for freedom loving Iranians. Back in the States a Fox News style pundit Pat Novak (Jackson) is pushing for these robotic enforcers to be used on the lawless streets of mainland USA. As yet though their producers OmniCorp can’t make the American public see the benefits of using their product at home. What they need is a human face to aid their market penetration, which is provided when Detroit hero cop Murphy (Kinnaman) is blown up and nearly killed.
It’s an enticing subversive notion – that the US public could be persuaded to be subjected domestically to the same shock’n’awe tactics they have applied in their foreign policy. The film doesn’t quite follow through on that bold idea but Brazilian director Padilha (Elite Squad) makes sure it is always alert and engaging. It’s also much less of an action film than you’d expect. Robocop isn’t unleashed till way into the second half and then the sequences feel a bit rushed. It is more interested in character and story. Swedish actor Kinnaman (Easy Money) is a much more human presence than Peter Weller. (The new black suit makes him look a bit Daft Punk though.)
The original Robocop was Verhoeven’s first American film. He was part of a wave of European directors such as Renny Harlin and Roland Emmerich in the late 80s and 90s who were drafted over to give Hollywood films that amount of extreme violence the domestic market demanded. They were like the Nazi scientists used to help the space programme. Now Hollywood is pulling in directors from around the world (Padilla or Neill Blomkamp) to produce the kind of 12A action with an anti-American slant that the new global market craves.
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