RoboCop (February 2014)

Official Australian release date: 6/2/14. Viewed: 6/2/14.

Director: José Padilha

Actors: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M

I went into the ‘RoboCop’ reboot with fond, but not very vivid, memories of the original, seeing as it came out when I was 2! I do remember having a RoboCop figurine that I used to play with as a kid. And this new film does a good job of making him look both new and futuristic, but also similar enough to the original that old fans won’t be disappointed – he’s silver for about a third of the film and black for the rest.

In terms of story, it’s pretty straight forward – Detective Alex Murphy (Kinnaman) is almost killed, is turned into a cyborg and then tracks down the bad guys in Detroit. Sure, there’s a little more to it than that – is he more man, or machine? Does he still have a conscience/soul? And does it matter if he’s good at his job?

There’s some decent action, but a lot of shaky/fast camera work that doesn’t always help the action scenes. It feels longer than it should and doesn’t have the best ending. Oldman and Keaton are good, but it’s hard to feel any real connection to Murphy and his wife (Cornish), as you never spend any real time with them.

Overall: Nothing new, but a decent action film. I just wish Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t beeped in the final scene!

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.