Monday, December 14, 2015

Robocop


     This is yet another one of those old movies that I missed because I haven't been to the theaters in a long time and I don't pay for Netflix, mainly just because I pay for Crunchyroll (anime streaming service) and Amazon Prime. Maybe one day I'll get Netflix though. They have a lot more of a selection and more rare and independent films than AP. This movie is a great action flick, mostly all action. It tries to have a story but the story gets blotted out by what I call Hollywood and CGI special effects stuff. It's okay though because that's what all these remake movies are all about. They're all about trying to break the box office tickets and showing off with all the special effects and creating 'buzz' and new fans and all that jazz. I'll tell you what I liked about the movie first. I didn't really dislike this movie at all but I gotta say that this remake isn't anywhere near as good as the original and I'll tell you why.
     First, I really like the idea of a cop going inside of a robotic suit and taking out bad guys. Robocop was one of those great films that I saw as a kid. Growing up I realize that that movie sort of had fascist overtones and was dark and gritty. It was violent too, even having some bloody scenes thrown in there as well as straight up murder. This is as cyberpunk as it gets. It's just a great idea and that's why they decided to remake it. Robots are cool.
     Another good thing about this film is that Joel Kinnamann, the actor who played a the male cop to the female cop in the Killing plays the Robocop. It was just cool seeing him playing a cop role again. I like his acting style a lot and think he's a great actor. He plays a great undercover sort of detective and in the Killing he was a like-able cop. I thought he did a really good job here in this movie especially the part where he and his partner were doing undercover cop stuff in an attempt to figure out who smuggled all these guns. In the end it all goes south and they end up in a firefight. The baddies put a timed explosive on our hero's car and the rest is history. He becomes the Robocop after surgery. The one part of this movie that was actually weird to see was his body without the suit. He just had lungs, a heart, his head, and his brain. It just looked totally weird to me. Its like how can he even survive like that? Not realistic at all but hey, this is Robocop, so who am I to judge?
     The action fighting scenes in this movie are great. It's everything you'd expect from a triple A title movie with a big budget and famous actors. Although this movie had some big name actors like Samuel L. Jackson, I felt like they didn't really add anything to the movie with their acting. It was like hey lets just throw in a famous face and not really make him important kind of deal. But the fighting in this movie is great. I especially liked the ending when Robocop is fighting for his life against the other drones and he's like a hair's breath from death. Also I liked the gun shooting in this game. I'm not normally a fan of guns because I prefer martial arts and sword fighting but the gun shooting in this movie is pure joy. Makes me want to play some first person shooter games. It's a blast, literally because there are lots of explosions in this movie as well. This is definitely an action movie.
     Moving on, this movie is fine and dandy as a remake but it can't hold a candle the original Robocop. This remake doesn't have any attitude, persona, and motive. It doesn't really go anywhere and ultimately we don't really care for any of the characters other than Robocop's wife and kid. The original had a theme and it was a slightly fascistic movie because it was made by German director by the name of Paul Verhoeven. He had theme and idea for the entire movie and it was darker and more gritty. This remake is all Hollywood theatrics. Which doesn't mean its bad. It just means that it lacks direction and cohesion. What this movie lacks in theme it tries to make up for with badass action and gun fights. It was a nice try but ultimately I'm going to forget this movie and watch the original again someday.
     Lastly, I've been watching a lot of movies lately and it's been fun. Perhaps I will become something of a movie connoisseur. But first I have a lot of movies to catch up on. I originally got into movies because I liked westerns. Westerns and science fiction have always been my favorite movies. Feel free to recommend me some great movies, new or old. Leave a comment and I will take your advice!  

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