Paul Verhoven’s original is an acquired taste. Some of his humor is difficult for audiences to appreciate, and his violence is hard for others. While this movie is more broadly accessible, it lacks the heart that makes for a classic movie.
This isn’t to say that it’s a bad movie. They did far better than I expected. They made a few strong points about the relationship that the US has with robotic military and police applications. The area where the movie felt especially lacking was the villain. While we already know the Omnicorp is evil, I was expecting a little more from the lower-level villain of the piece. Without this guy in place, most of the focus is shifted to developing Robocop as a character. That’s nice, but…
I never felt the same sense of heroics that I got from the original. This new Robocop apprehends criminals, but his actions always seem disproportionate. He breaks up a drug deal. He doesn’t do this because it’s the right thing to do, he does it because one of the people has information he wants. He doesn’t approach the scene with any nuance. He rushes into it, and immediately starts threatening to get what he wants.
The result is that this Robocop doesn’t seem like he’s worth rooting for. He’s worth examining, at a distance, but even the “good” Robocop seems brutal and terrible. Even the way he gets injured is less heroic. He’s the victim of a car bomb. In the original, he’s blown away as he attempts to arrest a high-ranking criminal.
All of these changes are less effective, but what would have been even less effective is if they had kept these elements the same. It’s interesting, but only in a passive way.
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