Brandon Clutter
Staff Writer
On Feb. 12, 2014, the “RoboCop” reboot, a film based on the original 1987 movie, hit the silver screen. Comparisons to the sci-fi classic were inevitable. However, though given the same title to its predecessor, these two films can be seen as two separate entities.
There are many unique elements that director Jose Padilha brought to the new film that set it apart from the original film directed by Paul Verhoeven. The modern update of the “RoboCop” 2014 gave it a fresh take that sets the film’s overall atmosphere.
The casting was top notch. Actor Joel Kinnaman took on the role of protagonist Detective Alex Murphy, originally played by actor Peter Weller. While I wasn’t expecting Murphy to be as good as Weller, I was surprised by his ability to take the role where it needed to go.
Kinnaman did an extraordinary job, seeming to mimic Weller while in the suit; however, as the Alex Murphy before the accident, he gave a different perspective. Murphy as the arrogant jerk, as Kinnaman played him, was something different that I liked.
Along with Kinnaman, the supporting cast highlighted the screen. Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Oldman all did great jobs in their roles and made up for what I found to be a bland and boring plot.
Murphy is very robotic throughout the whole film, which is not different from the original, but the way he figured out his own attempted murder was too quick for me. In the original, it took him time, as he had several obstacles to get through. The reboot made it seem like absolutely everything was obvious, and was dumb to me, as was the rest of the plot.
For the rest of the film though, the visuals were spectacular and attention grabbing. I foresee awards for visuals effects as well as sound effects and cinematography in the future.
Although the cast and effects were exceptional, the mediocre plot did not help “RoboCop” 2014 win the battle of Old vs. New. There seems to be hints of a sequel, and while the original two sequels were terrible, I sincerely hope that if there is a new sequel, it will not only be better than the original sequels, but much better than the reboot.
3 stars out of 5