The Gorehounds Reviews: Robocop (’14)

To start off, the ubiquitous futuristic look of everything is simply unappealing in this 2014 release. Yes, we are living in an era where technology and progress abound… but where is the beauty? The film hounds on the question “What makes a person a person?” Love may possibly be one of these but there is little love in this film. It is too cold and depressing. How can there be a hero without a figurative heart? Perhaps Gary Oldman shows love for his creation, in that he earnestly wants to reconnect Murphy with his family but is torn between his security and the Murphy family. My point is that, the director seems to say that humans have a quality which is non-transferable to humans, whether that be consciousness or love or some other ambiguous and difficult to define concept, but he fails to translate. The love is absent in this film. The film is too antagonist focused, without enough “wins” for the protagonists: Murphy, Murphy’s family, or the doctor.

Let’s address remakes succinctly: remakes can distort nostalgia but they can also excel. There are plenty examples of failures and successes so it’s immature to say “Stop all remakes”. In regards to it’s predecessor this film doesn’t excel. Though the features are not but neither are they cheap. It is well-made and the CGI is fluid. I’m starting to think that remakes have become accepted and complaining about them is pointless and should be removed from all conversation. I still wish there were more original ideas (because surprise, they do exist) but feel that complaining about remakes is fruitless. Nothing is obtained from those complaints. Simply, the film kept my attention and did hold high levels of suspense. What more can you ask?

I do look forward to copious remakes. The 80s had sequels which often surpassed 5 entries. Robocop came in at 3 sequel with TV series, videogames, and countless rip-offs. I think we can expect at least 2 more from this remake (and then a prequel!) but I’d look forward to something past the 4th sequel assuming a theatrical release.

In regards to the actors, Oldman was perfect. Nothing more to say other than being the best character in the movie. The new character (Joel Kinnaman) playing Murphy was good but I felt too familiar with Peter Weller from 1987. He’ll always be Robocop in my heart…

I think one of the highlights of the Robocop series is the use of the logos and branding. The original had such striking visual aids. The 2014 version could have used more thought the disassembly of Robocop was intriguing. With special effects not acheivable then, we see that very little of Murphy is actually human.

In conclusion, this is a pretty good science fiction movie with ideas to play and daydream with but ultimately, the film is too cold and stark. If we want robotic cop, we’ll go back to 1987 or look forward to some seqeuels. 3/5