RoboCop (2014) Movie Review

ROBOCOP (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

Going into this film, I was expecting a mediocre remake that makes the original appear and horrendous and utter garbage. However, what I got was a pleasantly surprising, entertaining movie.

In 2028 Detroit, Police Officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) becomes critically injured whilst in the line of duty, with third degree burns across 80% of his barely existent body. After seeing this, Omnicorp soon realises that they can use this man to his advantage by constructing him into a half-man, half-machine police officer. Since this is a remake of one of my favourite action flicks, I was expecting that the film would treat the source material like trash and just more or less ignore the simple but powerful premise and meaning that this film shows. However, what I got was a story that I felt while did not have as strong as an impact as I hoped, it was still necessary and was played out very well as in the film, they attempt at bringing even more humanity to the character of Alex by giving him a reason to keep living. His family, and while they did not incorporate as much time into that aspect as I hoped, it was at least evident and showed in some scenes that his wife and son just want their husband/dad back to normal. Anyhow, I felt that the plot for the film was just as good as the original, even though some things were tweaked to make the film more relevant.  

Still of Joel Kinnaman as RoboCop

As before, I mentioned that this film really did delve deeper into the whole human side of Alex Murphy and the relationship he had with his doctor and the entire company. This happens to be one of the things that was handled incredibly well as at the beginning of the film when he realises what has happened to him, you really do see emotions of fear and shock in his face, which is more than likely why Joel was cast for this role. As well as this, I love how instead of just going along with it, Murphy straight up says to his doctor to pull the plug as he doesn't want to let his wife and son see him like this, which shows that his humanity  is still an important factor and in the end is what controls you. Although the humanity was handled quite well, there were a few parts in particular that I felt could have been shortened or even taken out. For example, in the beginning of the film, it shows these robots protecting this village in the Middle East and it also shows the residents attempting to fight back. While this scene does become significant later on in the film, you really do feel that the scene could have been shortened significantly and could have made this already long film shorter. Anyhow, the visuals shown in the film I actually thought were incredible and really did showcase what this suit could do as when RoboCop is just laying waste to everything, it is just entertaining to watch and is just a real joy and really does show what made the original great, which was the action. I also, unlike alot of people, actually do like the design given to him as it does show both suits in the film, with the original 80's one being a prototype and the new one being the fully functioning one, which i felt was really smart story telling. 

Still of Gary Oldman and Jackie Earle Haley

As for the acting, this is actually where the film really did surprise as the film does showcase some already well-known acting abilities. For example, the ones who are obviously the best actors in the film are in fact Gary Oldman, Jackie Earle Haley and Samuel L. Jackson. Having said that, you really can tell that they just phoned up Jackson to be in this film as you can tell he doesn't want be here and just wants his paycheck. Having said that, he was still good in his role, even if it wasn't needed. Anyhow, as for RoboCop himself, I felt that while he wouldn't have been my first pick, Joel Kinnaman was still good in the role and really did excel when he had to do serious and stoic facial expressions, which more or less is what he had to do in this film anyway so yeah. However, out of everyone in the film, the actor who I felt was the best by far was actually Michael Keaton as he just managed to bring this hilarious, serious and overall cocky performance to his character and managed to make this one his own through his dialogue and overall tone in his voice. Overall, the acting in the film was actually fairly surprising, considering I didn't think the movie itself was going to be good in the first place. 

Still of Gary Oldman, Jay Baruchel, Michael Keaton
 and Jennifer Ehle

In the end, RoboCop was more or less everything I wasn't expecting. It was entertaining, thrilling and even at times funny. Overall, while it could have been much better, it was still a good time at the movies and I would gladly watch it again...in about 2-3 years.

OVERALL: 7.3/10