Robocop Series

When I was a kid I had Robocop toys and cartoons. But my parents wouldn’t let me watch the Robocop films; I never understood why I had seen the cartoon but couldn’t watch the movie. Well, when I got to high school my parents finally let me watch it and I could then see why. Robocop is a very, very bloody film. The plot is in the near future, and corporations have taken over, and they are now running the police department. They want to rebuild Detroit as Delta City but they need better police. So after an officer is gunned down in the line of duty he is rebuilt as Robocop. All they want is the organic component for their cyborg however the problem is that the soul of the officer is in Robocop, and he is slowly gaining his memory’s back and now wants to hunt down his killers. This is a great action and sci-fi film. The villain is played by Kurtwood Smith (Red from That 70’s Show) who is great at being evil. What makes this a great film is not the action but the heart of the character; you really feel for Robocop he’s a great tragic character. This film gets a 5 out of 5, I almost wish I could give this a 6 out of 5 it’s that good.


Robocop 2 is an interesting film. It has most of the cast from the first film, the director of Empire Strikes Back, and Frank Miller writing it. How could this not be one of the greatest sequels of all time? Well somehow despite a really good storyline and all this talent behind it, the film is actually kind of bad. The story is that OCP (the corporation from the first film) wants to create a new and better Robocop, who won’t have all the problems of the original Robocop. Also a new drug is sweeping through the city and a new villain named Cain is dealing it. After an encounter with the drug lord that results in Robocop getting torn apart, OCP uses this opportunity to reprogram Robocop to make him more family friendly. However, Robocop then breaks free of the reprogramming, and goes after the drug lord Cain, and manages to capture him, while breaking every bone in Cain’s body. A new scientist decides Cain is the perfect subject for the new “Robocop 2 model”. Moreover, like the old Robocop, this new version remembers his past and goes on a killing spree. Now the old model (Robocop) must stop this newer stronger version. See, isn’t the story pretty cool, so why is this film bad then? Well there are a bunch of scenes which seem like they’re going somewhere but don’t. For example, when Robocop is finally reunited face to face with his wife in the beginning of the film; the scene ends with him telling her to leave, but we think he’s just saying what the company wants to hear since he knows they’re listening. However, as I said before, the scene is never mentioned again in the film. The new scientist who put Cain’s brain into Robocop 2 is annoying, and she is supposed to be annoying, but she does it a little too well. Cain has a little 12 year old kid working for him, and he eventually takes over the gang near the end of the film, not only is this “epicly” stupid, but the film actually tries to make us feel sorry for the little punk when he dies late in the film. The music is incredibly bad in the sequel, unlike in the first film where the music was fantastic. The music in the first film perfectly captured the mood of the film, but here in the sequel, we get this ridiculous music that doesn’t even sound like it belongs in this kind of film. Those are only a few things wrong with the film. It could have been a really great film but somewhere in the making of the movie they f@#*$d it up. It gets 3 stars out of 5, but only because the premise was actually good.


Well after that we got Robocop 3, I don’t think they were even trying with this film. Let me but it simply, it has Robocop fighting robotic ninjas with jetpacks, that’s the best way to show you how they were so out of ideas at this point. The storyline is that OCP has finally started construction on Delta City, pushing many families out of their homes with a new strike force (the Rehabs). Robocop slowly decides to rebel against OCP and the police department making him an outlaw. For some reason they decided to make this film more kid friendly. However, there are some aspects of this film I like, for example; the music from the first Robocop film is back, most of the jokes still retain the dark humor the series is known for, a scene where the entire police department decides to quit OCP and then later where the police join the people in the streets trying to stop OCP. So what are the things I don’t like about this film? First, the kid friendly feel of the film just doesn’t work for the series, second the robot ninjas, third a new actor playing Robocop, I don’t know what it is, but the new actor is just not as engaging as Peter Weller from the first two films. The last and main problem with this film is the villain, he just isn’t threatening and really just not that interesting in general. It really sad to see the series go from such a great film to an ok film to crappy film, it’s probably why Robocop isn’t as well known nowadays. This film gets 2 stars out of 5.


Now lately there’s been talk of a remake of Robocop, with Darren Aronofsky directing. I think that’s a good idea, although I’d prefer if they instead remade the 2nd film because the first film is already great and doesn’t need to be remade, whereas the sequel really needs it. However, I’m still excited and can’t wait to see it. I think Mr. Aronofsky is a good choice for director based on his past projects (The Wrestler, Requiem For a Dream) which are all character driven stories which is more important to a Robocop film than action, but then again that’s just my opinion.