RoboCop (José Padilha)

[Boner M]

IMDB

[Boner M]

Review. Forgot to mention how dull the action scenes are; especially considering the rep Padilha's Elite Squad has (haven't seen it, less desire to after this).

[Winston*]

his suits got nips

[plain]

didn't hate it, but it's all over the place after the first third. kinnaman not too bad before he's turned into a zombie, sucking most of the life out of the film.

[Sxottlan]

This was enjoyable. The original is still far superior though full confession: my great movie sin is that I never saw the full uncut version of Robocop; just an edited version from when it was on television. Saw it so many times on VHS that even though I knew it was edited, I didn't feel like I needed to see it unrated.

I liked how this aimed for some different topics, but they're just not explored as memorably. I liked the ambiguity of the political conflict established at the beginning. Omnicorp almost seems sympathetic at first. The level of evil they stoop to almost seemed a little forced [

Show Spoiler

although in the film's most shocking moment, did they really have to get rid of that much of Murphy's body?

]. I really am convinced more than ever that the debate over cybernetic implants and to a lesser extent artificial intelligence will happen in our lifetime. I think the only way to really avoid any potential coming conflict is to embrace the merging of human and machine. Although I'm sure that will lead to it's own problems. But I digress...

The person behind Murphy's situation felt like an afterthought. Liked the apparent Detroit location shooting, but it's not really a character here. And Kinnaman is not particularly strong and he's distractingly tall.

Forgot to mention how dull the action scenes are; especially considering the rep Padilha's Elite Squad has (haven't seen it, less desire to after this).

While I liked the parts with the ED-209s, I agree about the action scenes, but Elite Squad is better than this. I would recommend it.

[Henry Gale]

Like a lot of big budget movies that I definitely have a curiosity about seeing exactly what they are despite not actually thinking I'll be satisfied enough to justify the money and trip to the big screen, I'm sure I'll enjoy this just fine when I watch it at home in 4-5 months!

But for right now, the best thing to come out of this movie might just be hearing everyone talk about all the ways they love the original as much and as unabashedly as I do.

[Lazlo]

Besides Kinnaman and Oldman the only thing about this that's any good is the look of RoboCop's assault on the gangster's warehouse that's lit primarily by muzzle flashes. Really cool look, really dumb scene. Of course RoboCop can see in the dark. Why would the bad guys bother to cut the lights as it would only make things harder on them?

[Rowland]

Nothing special, but better than expected. The sly satire of Murphy's first run as Robocop was a personal highlight.

[Dukefrukem]

Wow, this was way better than the trailers suggested.

[megladon8]

This is rated G in Canada.

Is it really that tame??

[Dukefrukem]

I'm not sure how that's possible. There's people getting shot in the head, drugs and you see Alex Murphy's guts.

[megladon8]

I'm not sure how that's possible. There's people getting shot in the head, drugs and you see Alex Murphy's guts.

Ya it's weird. I just noticed it's on sale at Amazon.ca and took a look at the back package. It's rated G in Quebec, PG in the rest of Canada. "Violence, not recommended for children."

[Skitch]

Not horrible, just lifeless.

[Henry Gale]

Ya it's weird. I just noticed it's on sale at Amazon.ca and took a look at the back package. It's rated G in Quebec, PG in the rest of Canada. "Violence, not recommended for children."

Everything is Rated G in Quebec.

Just skimming some American R-rated stuff:

- About Time
- Alan Patridge
- Begin Again
- Chef
- The Descendants
- 50/50
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Her
- The Immigrant
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- Jersey Boys
- The Kids Are All Right
- The King's Speech
- Nebraska
- Paul
- Rush
- A Serious Man

...all Rated G and safe for the Quebec kids that are surely dying to watch 'em! Needless to say almost all MPAA PG and PG-13 stuff get it too, except for weirdly things like Fast & Furious 6 getting 13+ (a rating they apparently also have).

They claim to also have 16+ and 18+ ratings, but I have honestly never seen them. Only really violent or vulgar PG-13 and R movies get 13+. Kinda makes sense to me?

[Pop Trash]

I dug this. The message is heavy handed but it was in the original as well. I liked some of the ambiguity of Michael Keaton's character (and Keaton on screen again is def welcome). He is clearly based on more seemingly benevolent green friendly techy CEOs like Elon Musk from Tesla and Richard Branson from Virgin. There's also a definite Gen-X style cynicism running throughout in that both private and public sectors are equally fucked up.

In other news: how the hell does this get a PG-13 with multiple machine gun deaths, an explosion that takes out a father, and said father's inner guts on display but Boyhood has some f-bombs and gets an R rating? Fuck the MPAA.

[Rowland]

Yeah, this is my personal candidate for the summer's most undervalued blockbuster.

[Pop Trash]

Yeah, this is my personal candidate for the summer's most undervalued blockbuster.

...that came out in February.

[Rowland]

...that came out in February.

LOL oh yeah. It doesn't feel like it came out much earlier than The Winter Soldier, which was at the beginning of April. The summer blockbuster season starts so early now that why not?...

[Sven]

Aborted this viewing. Terrible, terrible film, not just in comparison, but on its own. Jackson opening exposition is the most inane thing I've ever seen. [/exaggerating, but may as well be true...] Ugly action, stupid script, unpleasant performances, witless satire.

[Irish]

This was waaaaaaay more interesting than I was led to believe-- the rare remake that dares to reinterpret and update the original.

Some of the stuff -- Sam Jackson's commentary and the ending in particular -- felt forced and out of step with the rest of the material. But I liked the way it sidestepped Verhoeven completely and didn't try to be an action movie or a satire. I think it plays better when approached as its own, standalone sci-fi movie outside all other contexts.

Lots of angles. A little crazy violence. Not dissimilar to Elite Squad in that way, although this is obviously much more of a Hollywood product.