Where do I even begin with the new Robocop? I guess we'll start with a little history and the reviews the film got by critics. Sony pictures announced that they were going to remake the classic all the way back in 2005. But then, according to Bloody Disgusting, production was halted a year later. 2 years after that in 2008, Robocop was mentioned in an MGM press release and was slated to be released in 2010. Then the release date was postponed to 2011. Then, with the success of Avatar, the film was decided to be in 3D. More production went on in 2011 and 2012, but it wasn't until 2013 that the film became official to the public. Especially due to the fact that people were finding out they had already started filming. The reviews of the film were initially negative, but once the film was released more positive reviews began racing out. The reviews are almost at a stalemate with a 49% at Rotten Tomatoes. These means the movie will either be considered a great success or a miserable failure to the viewers.
With all that out of the way, I might as well just get down to it.
The film's style is very similar to that of Starship Troopers. Actually, Starship Troopers was directed by the same guy who directed the original Robocop, Paul Verhoeven. This could be just a coincidence of course. Anyway, throughout the film, Samuel Jackson plays a news caster for the Omnicorp company. He shows how much the company really deceives and lies to the public, but in a naturally comedic way. Starship Troopers also has these, though they relate more to Nazi propaganda than just a news reel. The news reels aren't the only thing similar to Starship Troopers, the message is similar as well. The conflict between the Federation and the bugs can relate to that of the US and the middle east. The people in the US are being clear that they don't want the US to continue going out there, but the government does it anyway, possibly for economic reasons. In Robocop, a similar dilemma is present. Heck! The film begins in the middle east! The company Omnicorp is obsessed with selling their robotic troops to governments all over the world. But Americans don't like the idea of robot police roaming the streets. So the company makes 'Robocop' to help convince the people and the government to take down a law in the US banning robotic policemen. Also, because he is part human, the law doesn't 100% apply to Robocop.
But now was this remake gold or dirt? Well, I like to consider remakes or re-imaginings as their own films. On its own, this movie makes for a fairly decent scifi flick. While the ending of the film felt a bit off, the first 3rd of the film was phenominal. it nearly blew the original away. As for the other 2 thirds. Eh, they were decent. When you sit down and watch the film you can kind of tell when the writers freaked out last year. And yes, the writers, and everyone working on this film, freaked out sometime last year over the film's production. The reason is unknown, but overall what we got was a decent film. It could have been a lot worse. I have seen worse remakes (Black Christmas, King Kong 1976, House of Wax, ect.), so compared to those this film is great. It is one of my favorite remakes of all time, definitely. I believe a sequel might do justice to this film if they can have an army of the ED-209s battle Robocop. Better yet, that Robocop vs Terminator movie that we were promised years ago! Despite what I say everyone has their own taste in cinema films and tv shows. Mine is Scifi/fantasy/horror but yours may be different. But Samuel Jackson has his own opinion on the new Robocop film, and I believe it suits his role from the film quite fine....
No comments:
Post a Comment