RoboCop (2014)

After a very, very long wait the Robocop reboot has finally arrived. It was more than seven years ago when I first heard that they were going to reboot my childhood favourite and keep in mind that this was back when reboots as a concept had not yet worn out their novelty.

The interwebs have been especially unkind to Robocop (2014) and even I slung my fair share of mud at it's glossy black visage. The decision to put Alex Murphy in a black suit made him look unmistakably like he was wearing a rubber suit instead of the fully prosthetic cyborg that he is. If that wasn't already enough, he inexplicably retains his right human hand which, again, detracted even more from the cybernetic illusion.

But these are criticisms of an aesthetic and design nature and without having actually seen the film, not very fair ones at that.

When Robocop was finally released in cinemas I went along to see what a contemporary Robocop looks, sounds and feels like. No one was more surprised than I at how good this film is. It shares much with it's original but also stands alone. The aspects that it shares with the 1987 original have been intelligently revisited and re-imagined in a more sophisticated manner and the aspects that are new are worthy additions.

The original was a tale of a man transformed into a machine and his struggle to regain his humanity. The transformation was quick (but not painless!) and largely permanent. While in the original, Robocop may regain some semblance of his humanity, he never truly reclaims his former identity and instead becomes a new man, if it were.

The remake differs slightly in that when Alex Murphy is transformed into the cyborg we know from the original, he is physically more machine than man but his memories, personality and psyche are completely intact. This difference opened up the film to explore more thoroughly the chipping away at Murphy's humanity as his mind is tweaked and his free will slowly taken from him.

It was an interesting new direction which kept Alex believably human throughout the film which may have been a goal of the film makers in an effort to avoid what some might call the goofiness of the original. Speaking of which, as a pre-teen boy in the 80's, what I loved most about Robocop was the jerky, twitchy, bird-like and yet wholly robotic way that Robocop would walk, turn on his heel and draw his gun. Even the simplest action such as knocking on a door or turning his head would send ripples of excitement through me. The way he would hit henchman without even looking... I could go on and on. Utter coolness. In contrast the reboot sees a much, much faster and agile cyborg that moves with fluid grace which makes him more realistic as current day humanoid robots are already quite graceful.

The change from chrome to “tactical” black is still a step backwards even after seeing the film but it made me hate OCP more for it which only makes the film better. Fans of the original chrome are also treated to a new and genuinely improved version of the chrome suit and will be happy to know that the film vindicates fans of the chrome version through the course of the film.

The human hand's presence is still not explained and remains an idiotic inclusion. However it does serve a symbolic purpose, signifying his unbroken connection to his son. Though it is still stupid from a combat perspective and surely should have been ripped off in numerous violent action sequences throughout the film.

Performances are good all round. Joel Kinnaman plays a less cliched Alex Murphy and a more sympathetic Robocop. Gary Oldman plays a very similar character to the performance he brought to Batman's Commissioner Gordon and that's not a bad thing. Michael Keating is a bit flat but manages not to bring the movie down too much. Fans of Watchman were treated to the talented Jackie Earle Haley better known for his role as Rorschach who filled the obligatory role of antagonist's “just plain bad” right hand man. Samuel Jackson's character also helped bring a new dimension to the original's humourously morbid television spots that once were a satirical parody of the rise of amoral conglomerates and unfettered greed. The remake chose to instead use these staples of the series to shine a light on the prevalence of bias in today's media.

To conclude, the previous criticisms of the suit are largely absolved with some choice explanatory scenes in the early exposition and protests of “not another reboot” fall to the strength of this timely and quality re-imagining of an 80's sci fi classic.

Available on DVD at Griffith City Library.