RoboCop (Remake) (2014)

Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Michael Keaton, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Jay Baruchel, and Michael K. Williams
Grade: B-

Of all the decisions made in this remake in contrast to the rest of the franchise, the new RoboCop suit is hard to get into. The tactical black suit argument is probably more realistic and in-tune with today’s standards, but the classic RoboCop costume is just too special to get rid of.

Summary

Television host Pat Novak (Jackson) of The Novak Element opens his show with a monologue posing the question of what if even the worst neighborhood in America could be made safe. What if it could be accomplished without risking the life of one single law enforcement officer? In this episode’s “State of the Union” segment, Novak is joined by General Curtis Monroe (Matt Cooke) live from the War Room at the Pentagon. Novak brings up a map and asks what the viewer is seeing. From Monroe’s perspective, they have found that random patrols have helped the local population feel safer and to trust them. On the digital map, Novak asks what the colored dots are, and Monroe says they are their assets on the ground. In green, they have the bigger ED 209s machines that work to secure the perimeter. In purple, they have the smaller EM 208s which sweep and mop up. Novak addresses the audience to say it’s great to see American machines helping to promote peace and freedom abroad. This statement is used as a transition to a newsclip of Operation Freedom Tehran, a standard op with no opposition. Soldier in charge Rick Mattox (Haley) tells reporter Kelly Perkins (Maura Grierson) and the cameraman he will set their markers to “Code Red” on their special bracelets. With this, all their drones will make their top priority the news crew’s safety. For the record, no red assets have ever been lost, which puts Kelly and the cameraman at ease. Mattox tells them they will be completely safe, as long as they have those bracelets on. Mattox leads them out of the alley and into the street where all the regular sized robots and ED 209s walk the town, scanning all the citizens inhabiting the place to see if they pick up any threats. Going back to the studio, Novak praises the operation because people would be risking their lives in a situation like this years ago. Monroe agrees this has been invaluable from a military perspective. They can accomplish their objectives without any loss of actual Americans, adding that the honest people on the other side appreciate it. Novak doesn’t see it any other way.

For the first time in their lives, they get to see their children grow up in an environment of safety and security.

Back in Tehran, Navid (Noorin Gulamgaus) watches the robots in the street, and his worried mother Sayeh (Marjan Neshat) tells him to get away from the window. His father Arash (Sam Motazedi) enters and tells Navid to stay with Sayeh and his sisters. Sayeh pleads with Arash, saying Navid is just a kid and she doesn’t want Arash to leave, but he doesn’t want to hear it. Once Arash goes into the other room, Navid peaks through the door to see what he’s doing. Arash is with a group of men, and he tells them they aren’t to kill anyone. Their goal is to die on television. Meanwhile, Novak patches in with Kelly, and she talks about how the locals in Tehran have embraced these routine scans. As she bullshits about how everyday life here is in perfect harmony, Arash and his group start firebombing the place and start a shootout with the robots, blowing themselves up when need be. It’s also live on The Novak Element because it happens when Kelly is talking. Navid watches from the window, grabs a knife, and goes outside to help. As more of Arash’s suicide bombers blow themselves up on other attacking robots, Navid comes face to face with an ED 209. It sees Navid’s knife, so it sees Navid as a threat, killing him on live TV. Novak in-studio explains how the Pentagon has to cut the feed to Tehran for security reasons but tells Kelly to be safe. Going back to addressing the audience, Novak talks about how fundamental these robots are to foreign policy. He questions why we can’t use these machines in America, adding why are we so “robophobic”? On one hand, we have the CEO of OmniCorp in Raymond Sellars (Keaton), an entrepreneur and “true American” who’s product just saved Kelly’s life. On the other hand, there is Michigan senator Hubert Dreyfus (Zach Grenier) who’s bill prohibits the use of drones on U.S. soil. The American people support the Dreyfus Act because they haven’t experienced this technology, and they fear what they don’t understand. Novak takes it upon himself to speak on behalf of his show and how they support Sellars’s efforts “to make our country and our viewers safer”.

After all, what’s more important than the safety of the American people?

At Detroit Police Headquarters, Det. Alex Murphy (Kinnaman) walks through the office. Someone asks how his partner Det. Jack Lewis (Williams) is, but they don’t know yet. Murphy goes straight into Chief Karen Dean’s (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) office where she’s sitting with fellow detectives Andre Daniels (K.C. Collins) and John Lake (Daniel Kash). Immediately, Murphy asks what the hell the other detectives are doing there. Karen bypasses this and brings up how there were six deaths because of Murphy’s actions and Jack is in the hospital. Murphy points out how they had a lead on Antoine Vallon (Patrick Garrow) and took it. She asks what the lead was, but he refuses to say it in front of Lake and Daniels. Daniels gets defensive and Lake brings up how Vallon is their case, but Murphy replies that it’s been two years and they don’t have any arrests or any information at all. The only explanation is that they are dumb or dirty. Lake questions if Murphy has anything on them or if its personal. Murphy says it’s not personal, but he doesn’t like him either. Karen dismisses them. On the way out the door, Daniels implies Murphy is the reason Jack is in the hospital, prompting an angry response from Murphy before the door closes. Now that Karen is speaking with Murphy in private, she wants to know the lead. He discloses that him and Jack were doing some street buys, and they got a line on some guns. They met up with low-level gangster Jerry (Jordan Johnson-Hinds) who had a piece he wasn’t supposed to have. In a flashback, Murphy asks Jerry where he got a gun like that, and Jerry tells him he can get two whole crates full of them. Jack questions how he could come across a product like that for being such a small-time criminal, but Jerry questions why it would even matter. Murphy chimes in to say they don’t want dirty guns, but he assures them they are clean. Murphy and Jack accuse Jerry and his other guy of being cops, and they pull out their guns. Jerry insists they’re not and they are working for Antoine Vallon. Jumping out of the flashback to the present where Murphy is speaking with Karen, he says they ran the serial numbers on the rifles before the meet. It turns out the guns were supposed to be in their evidence room, not in the street.

The intake papers were blank, and there were no signatures. How do you think that happened?

Going to the flashback, Jack suggests they call for backup, but Murphy knows Vallon will be gone if they do because word will get around the station as soon as they call. They told Vallon they were gun buyers, and he bought it. They sit down with Vallon and his henchman at a restaurant, and he wonders why they need that much product, questioning if they are plotting a coup. Jack assures him they’re not going to shoot a single shot in Vallon’s town, and Murphy says they have trouble back home with Chicago PD. Vallon likes this because he hates cops. They’re just about to close the deal, but someone tipped off Vallon with a phone call during their meeting. Vallon excuses himself from the table as they see a car pull up. Murphy and Jack look at each other and realize their cover is blown, so they push the table over and shoot the henchman. Vallon runs to his car and tells the guys who just showed up to make sure they kill them both. A huge shootout ensues between the unknown group and Murphy and Jack. Jack covers Murphy who jumps through the window into the alley. He uses a dumpster as cover while he takes out a guy outside and chases another. Jack is shot upon his escape, but he does shoot the other guy. Murphy goes over to Jack and calls it in while the rain pours down. Moving out of the flashback, Karen tells Murphy he shouldn’t do stuff like this without coming to her first. Vallon is connected. She doesn’t want him to make any more moves until she vets through them. Murphy points out how officers are supplying him with guns, but she cuts him off and says it’s up to IAD. She will handle it. At a senate hearing, Sellars meets with Senator Dreyfus and other senators, arguing how sophisticated his machines are. Dreyfus doesn’t care and talks about how a machine doesn’t know what it feels like to be human. If it can’t understand the value of human life, why should it be allowed to take one? To legislate over life and death, we need people who understand right from wrong. He wants to know what his machines feel. Sellars points out how they show no anger, prejudice, and they have no fatigue, making them ideal for law enforcement. Putting them on the streets will save countless American lives. Dreyfus sees this as evading the question, but Sellars doesn’t think he is.

For the record, the people sitting in the room are clapping to a lot of Dreyfus’s responses.

Again, Dreyfus asks what the machines feel, throwing out a hypothetical of how they would feel if it they killed a child. Sighing, Sellars admits they would feel nothing. Dreyfus points to this as the problem and why 72% of Americans will not stand for a robot pulling the trigger. This gets applause, with Sellars visibly internalizing the loss. At OmniCorp Headquarters in Detroit, the head of marketing in Tom Pope (Baruchel) does a presentation about how America is the world’s most valuable market, but they aren’t allowed to touch it. If they did expand domestically however, they would clear $600 billion per annum. In other words, every second that law is in existence, they are hemorrhaging money. Liz (Jennifer Ehle) isn’t sure what to do because they have thrown cash at both sides of senators, but no one has budged. Tom knows they don’t want to vote against their constituents. Unless they sway public opinion, they’re sitting ducks. With this in mind, he says his team has come up with a very aggressive campaign. Sellars thinks they need to give Americans a product they can love, something to rally behind. Liz has dissected the bill but can’t find any loopholes. They can’t put machines in the streets. Sellars tells her to forget about the machines because it’s not what Americans want. They want a product with a conscience, something that knows what it feels like to be human. He decides they are going to put a man inside a machine. At the OmniCorp Foundation Rehab Ward, Dr. Denneth Norton (Oldman) sits with patient Michael and his wife, as Michael is dealing with the reality of two robotic hands. He tells Michael that he’s not him because of his arms, legs, or hands. Michael is Michael because of his brain. It’s the brain’s capacity to process information that makes you who you are. Though Michael has never played music with these new hands of his, Norton explains how the music doesn’t come from his fingers. It comes from his mind. All he has to do is let it out. Michael grabs his guitar and plays a song really well. Norton and his scientist coworker Jae Kim (Aimee Garcia) smile, and Michael’s wife gets emotional. However, Michael’s playing starts to mess up, and Kim notes how his emotions are peaking and the readings are getting cloudy. Norton tries to get Michael to relax because it will change the chemistry in his brain and throw the system out if he gets too emotional.

He tries again after Norton’s insistence, but he admits he needs emotion to play. While this happens, Sellars walks in and notes Michael’s playing of Concierto de Aranjuez and calls it beautiful. He turns his attention to Norton and says he wants to speak with him when he has a moment. In Sellars’s office, Norton reminds him how they have already agreed how he wouldn’t be asked to develop combat applications. His work at OmniCorp is driven by its own questions. Sellars calls his work brilliant but adds that his ideas are underutilized. He thinks he’s found a way to put a real revenue stream behind his research and save thousands of lives in the process. Following this, Lake and Daniels meet with Vallon, confirming Murphy’s suspicions about the two. Vallon says they aren’t keeping up their end of the deal considering how he was exposed to that degree the night before. Daniels calls Murphy impulsive as a response, so Vallon just tells him to put Murphy on the payroll. Daniels knows this won’t work and he’s definitely not going to let it go since Jack got shot. Lake slips over a piece of paper to Vallon with the address of the hospital Jack is in because Murphy is going there that afternoon. Vallon knows how bad for business killing a cop would be for him, but Daniels implies they will be the ones who will be tasked in investigating him, ensuring Vallon being free from any and all repercussions. At the hospital, Murphy tells the asleep Jack that he’s going to go hard after Lake and Daniels and will have them arrested within the month. Outside, Vallon’s henchman Marcus (Wayne Downer) tells Vallon over the phone he’s there and gets a confirmation the cameras are off. He puts something under Murphy’s car. In the hospital room, Murphy admits Jack was right about getting backup and apologizes. Finally, he realizes Jack was only acting like he was sleeping and they share a laugh. Back at OmniCorp, Tom goes through candidates for Sellars’s plan with Sellars and Norton in the room. He brings up Sgt. Thomas Ryan, NYPD as a possibility, as he’s paralyzed from the waist down. Once he shows that Thomas has gained a considerable amount of weight since the accident, Sellars passes on him. Tom goes next with Officer Alfred Miller from Denver who is suffering from severe cerebellar ataxia. He has scored through the roof with their urban demos, so Sellars says they’ll keep this one in mind. Tom brings up Sgt. Jack Freeman last.

He led Pittsburgh SWAT for five years but is now confined to a wheelchair. Norton passes because he’s checked Freeman’s psych evaluation and he’s far too unstable. Tom chalks this up as Freeman having a temper, but Norton knows they have no idea what they would be putting Freeman through. The psychological strain involved in the process requires someone emotionally balanced. Sellars agrees with Norton and tells Tom to keep looking. At night, Murphy gets home to his wife Clara (Cornish) and their son David (John Paul Ruttan). David is watching a Detroit Red Wings game on his iPad and Murphy playfully asks for updates on the game. Wanting to talk with Murphy, Clara sends David to bed, and Murphy tells him he will go upstairs to tuck him in soon. Once David leaves, Clara asks how Jack is holding up and Murphy tells her they said it would be about a week before Jack is up on his feet. He then goes on about how it’s his fault and they shouldn’t have been there. She gives him a beer. Later, Murphy tucks in David. Following this, he begins to get intimate with Clara, but his car alarm goes off. Not wanting to wake up David, he goes to the window and presses the alarm button on his keys. It doesn’t work, so he goes outside to check it. Once he gets close, the car explodes and severely wounds Murphy. Vallon’s guys planted a bomb. Sometime after, Norton is going over Murphy’s case with Clara and a bunch of OmniCorp people, noting how Murphy suffered 4th degree burns over 80% of his body and his lower spine has been severed. If he survives, he will be paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair. He says they don’t have to do this, but she wants to hear everything before she makes a decision. Moving on, Norton says his vestibulocochlear optical nerves have been critically damaged, making him blind in one eye. He will most likely be deaf too. One doctor points out to Clara that Norton and the Omni Foundation are the leaders in this field, and their offer might be the only chance Murphy has. Clara still says she needs time to think, though Liz tells her that time is one thing she doesn’t have. Knowing Norton said they can save Murphy, Clara asks what this means and what kind of life will he have.

Three months later, Murphy is seemingly fine and is hosting a house party. Karen is there, along with a healthy Jack. Murphy dances with Clara. Sadly, this is all a dream. Murphy is asleep in Norton’s lab but wearing the RoboCop body armor. His mind is being run through a stimulation package, which includes Frank Sinatra performing “Fly Me to the Moon”. He’s retrieving memories and trying to make sense of the stimulation package they implanted. Norton is happy with the progress and tells Kim to reconnect his spine, declaring it time to wake him up. Slowly, Murphy’s dream disintegrates and he wonders what’s happening. Next, he wakes up in the lab. Immediately, he asks what’s going on, so Norton explains the explosion and that he’s in a hospital. He assures Murphy that Clara and David are fine and how he’s the one who has been treating Murphy. Kim notes Murphy’s heart rate rising and his visual input being unstable, which probably isn’t helping the situation. Murphy realizes he can’t move. Kim says Murphy is dumping too much epinephrine and asks if they should “purge it”, but Norton tells her not yet while he tries to calm Murphy down. He has Kim unlock his vertebrae and to unlock upper and lower extremities. While this goes on, Murphy looks at his hands. One is still his, but the other is robotic. He questions what kind of suit this is, so Norton has to explain to him that this is no suit. It’s him. It was the only option. Norton says his team is here to make Murphy feel whole again. He has Kim unlock Murphy’s body entirely and requests Murphy to walk forward. He does and can’t believe how real this feels, prompting Norton to stress this is real. It’s not a dream, drugs, or anesthetics. Murphy says he knows he’s dreaming because he can feel all of it, but Kim interrupts to say that amputees can often feel their missing appendages. It’s called “Phantom limb sensation”. Naturally, Murphy is shocked to hear the word “amputee” and demands they take the suit off him immediately. He starts to panic and yells at Norton, demanding to know what he’s done to him. He one-hand chokes Norton, and his helmet comes down over his eyes as he does so. Next, he runs out the door. Kim tells the others to shut Murphy down, but Norton insists they let him run.

He runs through the facility and to the outside while Norton pleads with him to stop, as they are connected from Norton’s computer. All the workers watch Murphy as he runs through the place in confusion and exits. Looking at the ED 209s outside, he leaps over the fence and runs through a field before Norton finally gives Kim the greenlight to shut him down. Immediately, he falls into a puddle of water in the field. Next, Murphy wakes up lying on a mechanical stretcher of sorts, and he’s hooked up directly to it. It lifts itself to a standing position for Norton to enter the room and talk to him. Norton wants Murphy to understand the reality of his situation, so Murphy invites Norton to show him. Norton obliges by putting a mirror in front of Murphy and having each of his body parts easily removed through machinery. All that is technically him is his mind, his internal organs in his upper chest cavity, and his right hand. His body is almost entirely a machine, but he’s still here. Somehow, Murphy knows this isn’t even his brain, so Norton admits they had to repair certain damaged areas, but they didn’t interfere with his emotion or intellect. According to Norton, Murphy is still in control. Murphy says that if he is in fact in control, then he wants to die. Unplug whatever is keeping him alive and end this nightmare. Though this isn’t possible because of his job, Norton questions what he would tell Clara or David. Immediately, Murphy tells him to say it didn’t work, they tried, they did everything they could, but he died. Norton wonders aloud about all the pain they’ve been through, and their hope being restored, and questions if he just wants to throw it all away. Norton reminds him how much Clara loves him and how she signed the consent forms herself. Otherwise, he couldn’t have undergone the procedure. She loves him and gave him a second chance. Norton pleads with Murphy to take it. Murphy says he doesn’t want to see himself like this ever again and the same goes for his family. He has Norton put his body back in the suit, accepting who he is.

Afterwards, Murphy sits in a dark room and connects with Clara on a video call. He zooms in a little extra to shield the rest of his body. He apologizes for how me must look to her, but she says he’s beautiful. She’s just happy to see him. She asks if they’re treating him right, and Murphy does say Norton seems like a nice guy. Clara offers to get David, but he’s not ready for David to see how he is yet. Still, she tells him they’re going to get through this. She wants to know when he’s coming home, but he still has some tests to go through. However, it’s going well. He tells her that he loves her and ends the connection abruptly, getting emotional. Next, he’s hooked up in the lab again, and they cleanse his blood through a tube attached to him. After fueling him while he sleeps, Norton has them release antidepressants to allow him to have a nice dream. They shut out the lights and call it a night. The next day, Rick Mattox works with Murphy on all the weapons available to him. He also tells him how his armor is state-of-the-art but not invulnerable. A .50 caliber or larger can penetrate or kill. If Murphy senses he needs a weapon or is threatened, his visor goes down and his system makes the weapons available to him, with one coming out of his thigh ready to be unholstered. Mattox shows him this by pointing his own gun at him to activate it. Still, he stresses that it’s not the weapons that count but the man handling them, or in his case “what”. He asks Murphy if he thinks he can handle this, so Norton interrupts to tell Mattox to stick to his job. Mattox assures him how combat robots are his job, mentioning missions in Rio, the Congo, and other places. He argues their machines run perfectly. He sees sticking “organics” into the system as a huge step backwards. He doesn’t care how well Norton designed Murphy’s suit. Without his signoff, Murphy isn’t going anywhere. Taking the high road, Murphy offers to shake his hand, adding “It’s nice to meet you too”. Mattox ignores him, refers to him as “Tin Man”, and goes over to begin the first test. With Mattox, Norton, and a few others watching in the OmniCorp Simulation Room in China, Murphy takes on the EM 208 in Scenario 1. To start things off, Mattox plays “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz.

Murphy and the EM 208 go through the same virtual scenario, a hostage situation in a building. They both succeed, but EM 208 is 5.6 seconds fast, so Murphy’s attempt is deemed a failure (“I wouldn’t buy that for a dollar”). Norton wants to try it again. Later, Murphy looks up his own name on a computer and finds articles about his recovery, a headline asking “Alex Murphy: Man or Machine?“, and how Clara won’t talk despite being under the spotlight. He then looks up articles about Antoine Vallon, but the first one that pops up is DPD deeming him no longer a suspect due to lack of evidence. He’s not surprised. Next, he looks up the Detroit Free Press, and a video pops up where Daniels tells the reporter how Murphy’s investigation into Vallon wasn’t authorized in the first place. Lake adds that Murphy was overzealous and there is no evidence linking Vallon to the attempt on his life. Jack is also interviewed, and he keeps it simple, commenting that Murphy is a great cop and he will bring whoever did this to justice. At OmniCorp Headquarters in Detroit, Norton shows Sellars the results of the simulated scenarios, pointing out specifically the procedural bars on the EM 208. The machine assesses the threat and acts. It’s two steps. That’s it. He then shows Murphy. The software assesses the threat the same way, and it sends the information to the brain. Murphy has to decide what to do with the information based on his emotional cognitive abilities like any man would. The brain relates this to the AI module. The response takes longer. It’s a five-step process instead of EM 208’s two. EM 208 finished with 98.4% efficiency while Murphy finished with 25.7% efficiency. Norton did what Sellars wanted. He put a man in a machine, but the human element will always be present. Fear, instinct, bias, and compassion, among other things will always interfere with the system. Interrupting Norton, Sellars goes back to how he wants to sell this product to the American people, as something aspirational. He can’t sell something that’s just decent. They have a release date, and they have to make it. He wants Norton to do whatever he can to make Murphy do what EM 208 is doing, as if it’s that simple.

Norton doesn’t see how it’s possible. One is a man, and one is a machine. Sellars says it’s a man in a machine, his life depends on it, and the future of OmniCorp depends on it. He tells Norton to get his ass back to China to get it fixed. He doesn’t care how he does it. He just wants it done. Sometime after, Norton is operating on Murphy’s brain. Through some maneuvering, Murphy has the taste of peanut butter in his mouth, which he isn’t a fan of. Norton then has Kim put Murphy under. Kim asks Norton what he’s planning to do. He replies that consciousness is nothing more than the processing of information. He’s going to fix Murphy, and Murphy won’t know the difference. With that, he takes a small pin out of Murphy’s brain with tweezers. At OmniCorp, Tom tells Sellars they just ran focus groups at Ryan Correctional Facility. He puts up on the screen what he refers to as “Combat Mode”. The suit is basically the classic RoboCop costume from the original movie. Apparently, it really put the fear of God into the prisoners. Sellars considers it okay. Tom shows him “Social Mode” too. It’s a transformed version, with the suit being sleeker, the helmet moving up to show his face and police lights coming out of his shoulders. Kids love it and focus group numbers through the roof. Sellars thinks it’s embarrassing and that this is more of a situation where the people won’t know they want until they give it to them. He wants something more tactical and wants the suit to be black instead. Sometime after, the new and improved Murphy in his new tactical black suit meets Sellars, Tom, Liz, and Norton. Tom says he looks like a billion dollars, but Liz corrects him to say he’s actually worth $2.6 billion. Murphy and Sellars shake hands. Sellars has wanted to meet him, and Murphy can’t help but thank him for everything he’s given him. Sellars tells him they funded the program to give men like Murphy a second chance. He encourages Murphy to do his best and goes into a private room to watch Murphy’s test.

Kim introduces Sellars to Chief Technician Shuman, and the group sits down to watch Murphy go toe to toe with Mattox and his team in a shootout. If Mattox wins, Murphy goes back to the drawing board. If Murphy wins, he gets a ticket back home. Mattox’s team will be using .47 caliber rounds, which will do damage but won’t take Murphy out. Even so, Mattox says his gun will. Norton uses his mic to tell Murphy that Mattox’s EM 208s will try to maneuver him to allow Mattox to get a clear shot at him and how he can’t let it happen because everything except his life support will shut down. He will feel more pain than he’s ever felt in his life. Facing 54 threats in this abandoned factory, Murphy kicks more ass than they are expecting. While watching, Liz asks Norton how Murphy is doing this, so Norton reveals that his software is faster, his hardware is stronger, and he’s a better machine because of it. Despite his words about humans hesitate, he explains how they only hesitate when they’re making decisions. She’s confused by this and asks if he’s not making decisions. Norton explains how it’s a little bit of both. In his everyday life, man rules over machine. Murphy makes his own decisions. When he engages in battle, the visor comes down, and the software takes over. The machine does everything. Murphy is just a passenger along for the ride. Liz asks if the machine is in control, how is Murphy accountable? Who is pulling the trigger? Norton says that when the machine fights, the system releases signals into Murphy’s brain making him think what he’s doing is what their computers are actually doing. Right now, Murphy believes he is in control, but he’s not. It’s the illusion of free will. Liz sees this as Norton circumventing the law by making a machine that thinks it’s a man, noting how its illegal. Sellars corrects her and says it’s a machine that thinks it’s Alex Murphy. He likes it and considers it legal. As they talk, Murphy takes out the rest of the EM 208s and shoots Mattox’s gun out of his hands. He shoots his taser gun at Mattox’s exoskeleton and shocks him to the ground to win the battle. Finally, Murphy gets to see Clara back at home.

As Clara nervously puts on makeup waiting for his arrival, an equally anxious Murphy sits outside in a car with Norton. Norton notes how Clara has been waiting four months and how she’s probably nervous too. Clara waits with a nervous David in the living room and compliments the sign he made for Murphy’s return. Murphy thanks Norton and goes to knock on the door of the house. Clara lets Murphy in, and there is a silence while she gets close. Even so, she hugs him and rests her head on his chest. They turn and he sees David sitting in a chair watching in shock. Murphy approaches him and has him feel his armor for the first time. David tells Murphy he saved all the Red Wings games on his computer and how he’s been waiting to watch them with Murphy, prompting Murphy to get emotional. He can’t do it tonight because his suit needs to be worked on, but David understands. Next, Murphy goes to the police department and meets with Jack in the parking lot who greets him. He brings up how it must have been nice for Clara to see him, but he tells Jack that it’s not his home. Right now, his home is in a lab and how he’s going to take down Vallon and his whole crew starting tomorrow. Jack smiles because he’s happy to hear him say it and jokes that at least he knows Murphy is the right color now, prompting a smile out of Murphy. He gets put under that night by Norton to recover, but the real work begins tomorrow.

RoboCop is here, and he wants vengeance.

My Thoughts:

Of all the remakes and reboots of classic franchises that have frustrated fanbases over the last decade or so, the 2014 remake of RoboCop is a pleasant surprise. With a story respectful to the original and made by a team that has an understanding as to what made it successful in the first place, RoboCop gets a modern-day update that is more grounded than the original, better acted, intelligent in its writing and the science behind it, and noticeably serious with its story without being too depressing. It removes the 1980s tongue-in-cheek humor of the first two movies but retains a certain amount of satire and social commentary throughout the narrative. At the same time, it revs up the action to fit the faster pace of what today’s audiences look for in action cinema and science fiction spectacles. It’s not as special as the original and doesn’t say anything particularly new with the IP, but it’s still an exciting and well-developed retelling of the story for the modern age.

Did it need to be made? Not at all. If a remake happening was inevitable however, this take on the source material isn’t bad, all things considered.

A lot can be argued between this remake and other iterations of the franchise, but one thing that cannot be argued is that this movie’s cast is the best a RoboCop production has ever put together. Performance-wise in totality, it’s also the best-acted. This stems from MGM wanting to take the property seriously by beefing up the supporting cast with veteran talents from top to bottom to surround rising star Joel Kinnaman and ensure quality, especially compared to previous franchise entries like the Prime Directives, the live-action series from 1994, and RoboCop 3. So, though the narrative doesn’t quite nail the over-the-top social commentary or its criticism of corporate culture in America that the original RoboCop did such a great job with, it still retains a lot of entertainment value through its great use of star power and new characters who are inspired by the first movie but are still entirely their own. For example, there is no Bob Morton in this film. Instead, the minds behind the creation of RoboCop are actually sympathetic. Gary Oldman is the highly respected Dr. Denneth Norton, a reluctant participant in the matter. Though he is given the reins in developing the cyborg cop, it’s because he’s the leading scientist in his field. Every day, he works with amputees and uses robotics to help them get accustomed to their new lives moving forward, getting patients use to life with mechanical body parts through the incredible technology he designed. As we see early on, he cares about his patients and his career, as he sees it as his duty to help those in need. His life’s work is helping lives work and giving people a new lease on life, even if the change may be hard to digest at first. Even as Alex Murphy becomes embroiled deeper into the darker side of his journey, and we are well aware of the role Norton played in getting him there, he’s still firmly in the gray area because the viewer sees how his hand was forced and the pressure was on at every turn. With the prospect of his work being seen on a grander scale and pushing forth more scientific discoveries with OmniCorp’s budget at his disposal, it’s a compromise he makes. Despite his protests, he has to concede a lot of arguments because of what Sellars and OmniCorp as a whole are giving him.

As many of us learn at our own places of employment, we have to pick and choose are battles. Even when Norton knows what he’s doing is wrong, he knows he can’t quit or refuse certain decisions because it would mean trouble for his own career. The guilt in his eyes when he lowers Murphy’s dopamine levels to the point where he’s damn near a zombie is harrowing to watch unfold, but OmniCorp demanding he do something on the spot to “fix” Murphy minutes before he makes his first public appearance forces him to choose the quickest solution. The viewer has to realize the situation they are in and what everyone is riding on leading up to this pivotal moment. The announcement of Alex Murphy returning to life as RoboCop is huge for OmniCorp, and they already have thousands lined up to see his unveiling. With Sellars’s words echoing about needing this creation to win over the American public because it will help in repealing the Dreyfus Act, which in turn will allow for OmniCorp to move its industry to America by putting robots or more RoboCops on the street resulting in potential billions, Norton being noted as the mind behind the design of RoboCop means his reputation is on the line just as well as the company’s. If they don’t bring Murphy out at that moment, the public will know something is wrong and the scrutiny by citizens and commentary by journalists and pundits will put immense pressure on everyone involved. Combining this with Murphy having a seizure at the same time, after they upload the entirety of the DPD database in his head, leading to Murphy rewatching the scene of his own death on repeat, we can’t fault Norton for using the panic button. He’s stuck between a rock and hard place because though the RoboCop project allows him to continue his revolutionary work in the field with an unlimited budget compliments of the CEO, Norton being pressured into making Murphy less human as time moves on burns at the pits of his stomach until he is forced to a breaking point in the third act due to his guilty conscience. Remember, after the Thomas King incident where Murphy completely ignores Clara and David because of his lowered emotions, Norton meets with Clara and straight-up lies to her face about how nervous Murphy was and how he had to be sedated.

When a teary-eyed and suspicious Clara points out how she looked into Murphy’s eyes and couldn’t see her husband before he shot a man in front of their son, Norton chalks this up to Murphy simply responding to drugs differently, how they both knew there would be complications, and to give him some time. Again, Norton is not completely innocent, but he’s one of the few behind the scenes that we know at heart is a good guy. After Murphy takes out Briggs in that awesome action sequence, Liz calls it justifiable, Tom talks about how much money they are going to make, and Kim notes how Murphy didn’t have any fear, an increase in heartrate, or traces of anger whatsoever. When Norton is congratulated and is told he did it, he responds with a paltry, “Yes I did”. He knows this isn’t right and always did, but the allure of freedom in his work was too inviting and he fell from grace with a few instances of malpractice that made the equipment better but threatened to lose the human test subject’s soul at the same time. His reservations can be seen from the outset with his conversations with Raymond Sellars, but the real antagonist is Sellars himself. An intriguing thing to note about Sellars is that we only assume he’s going to turn into the villain for two reasons. The first is that this is a RoboCop movie after all, so we know it’s going back to this at some point in the story. The second is that he’s the head of the main corporation of the movie. If you have watched enough movies in general, all signs point to Sellars being the main bad guy because executives are almost always portrayed as evil in some capacity. However, what makes this Raymond Sellars character compelling in spite of the narrative’s expected endgame is the casting of Michael Keaton. He’s not Dick Jones nor is he “The Old Man” of the original movie. As the CEO of OmniCorp, Keaton is charismatic, charming, and a great salesman in his role, being a great face for the company-on-the-rise in this modern-day interpretation of an all-powerful corporation that a lot of the public sees as having “good” intentions. Keaton’s Raymond Sellars finds the fine line between likable and misunderstood pioneer to the public and corporate leader looking to make a fortune by any means necessary.

It’s through Keaton’s likability and engaging personality in every dialogue exchange that he comes off as a positive figure with a solid argument. We can’t deny how smooth and confident he is under pressure. After Clara makes a public statement about how OmniCorp denied her and David’s access to Murphy for weeks and how she demands to know why, which could hurt the company’s stance in the eyes of the Senate who are voting on the repeal of the Dreyfus Act, Sellars just tells Liz and Tom to bring her in and he will handle the explanation because he’s that good with his words. This leads to their conversation where Sellars puts on a sad face to lie to Clara, “revealing” to her that Murphy had a psychotic break, killed an unarmed colleague, and had a seizure. They did everything they could, but the doctors couldn’t save him, and they will announce his death shortly. In his doubling down of this phenomenally told lie, he asks if there is anything they can do for her or David. She reacts in anger and says she wants nothing and demands they stay out of her lives moving forward, but he acts in innocence, replies that he understands, and agrees to do so if that’s what she thinks is best. Knowing he has her right where she wants her, Sellars hits her with, “There is one more thing. I think it would be to the benefit of everyone, especially David, if we kept this matter private. We don’t wanna damage Alex’s legacy”. I sat back like Dr. Evil watching Nigel Powers take out those individual guards in Austin Powers in Goldmember saying aloud, “Oh, he’s good”. In another effortless example of Keaton at his best as Sellars, he doesn’t lose his temper with Norton either, despite Norton shouting at him for Mattox spying on him, the bullshit about Murphy’s critical condition that Mattox caused, and how it all needs to stop. After pointing out how the work they have done with RoboCop will be studied for decades, he hurls compliments towards Norton about he changed the face of history and how no policeman will ever die in the line of duty because of him. Even if Norton uses the conversation to buy time, you believe wholeheartedly in their compromise of wanting the Murphy family being taken care of beyond their wildest dreams because they owe them that, with Sellars agreeing immediately, and Norton wanting full funding and a new staff consisting entirely of his own people.

You just sit there, and you can’t help but smile and think how deliciously good Sellars is at manipulating every conversation he’s in. His conviction makes every lie plausible. Even when he tells Clara they have to get her and David out of there because Murphy is shooting up the building, it is technically rooted in some semblance of truth, which is why he’s able to say it so confidently. Of course, it all leads to the inevitable shit hitting the fan when Sellars has to find a way to pivot out of it, revealing his true nature. Again, it’s not shocking that he ends up being yet another opponent for Alex Murphy to face. The shocker is how much the viewer is cool with Sellars up until that point in the third act when he’s making the speech on The Novak Element that RoboCop is dead, as he privately gave orders to Mattox to kill Murphy, but Murphy escaped the facility and is heading to OmniCorp’s way. It’s not only the brilliance in Keaton’s performance, but the writing also deserves considerable credit. Sellars’ ideas of law enforcement droids make sense within the RoboCop universe now more than ever, but the screenwriters don’t stop there, as the hardline responses from Senator Hubert Dreyfus are just as compelling. Sure, we don’t want people to die in the line of duty, but Hubert’s argument of a robot not being able to see a gray area in certain situations and not feeling anything in its enforcement of the law is just as problematic, which is why the Senate can’t allow for Sellars to move forward with OmniCorp’s well-intentioned technology in the United States. The disaster of the “Operation Freedom Tehran” sequence is the perfect example as to why Sellars doesn’t have all the answers yet for the world to go in his direction. Again, despite the idea behind robots doing the dirty work of law enforcement being a good thing, it’s inability to look at each situation through its respective contexts is a great counterpoint. That’s what is enjoyable about the remake’s screenplay above all else. Instead of trying to influence the audience in taking a stance, it brings up contested and developed arguments on both sides, and the genius of it is it forcing the viewer to make their own morality-based decision based off what they see or allowing for the viewer to sit back and revel in the fact that this is not as easy of an answer as they think.

Their second small faceoff orchestrated on Pat Novak’s show was also excellent in this regard. Dreyfus concedes OmniCorp created a sensation with Alex Murphy, but his bill isn’t about that. It’s about if America is willing to give robots authority over human life. Sellars says that Americans care more about efficiency and safety rather than systems being manned or unmanned, but Dreyfus calls out him out for attempting to sway public opinion with a marketing stunt. At this point, you can’t help but smile because it’s refreshing seeing a Senator on the ball like this and being completely correct in his assessment. Even so, Sellars is savvy enough to point out how RoboCop’s existence has helped cut crime by 80%, wondering aloud about the possibilities 100 systems could do. It’s this constant pendulum swinging that’s engrossing to watch unfold, and one of the remake’s biggest attributes. At the same time, the screenwriters carry the tradition of previous RoboCop entries with its contemporary news satire but also puts a different spin on it in regards to the modern era of entertainment and news television programming. They do so with the always reliable Samuel L. Jackson as Pat Novak of the political commentary show The Novak Element, replacing Media Break. Mirroring the heavy bias of news programs today and its use of a larger-than-life, in-your-face host with a tell-all be-all opinion, the segments of The Novak Element within the movie are used as great transitional tools for the narrative but also to test the audience’s intellect in real time. Can his words influence you? Are there hard truths in Pat Novak’s monologues, or is someone giving him money under the table? Some of his comments are fantastic points that further muddy the waters. In Murphy’s first public appearance as RoboCop, he shoots convicted felon Thomas King who is wanted for rape, arson, and murder, and has been wanted for 6 years. Despite all of this, the man was at the rally next to two police officers IN FRONT OF police headquarters “hiding” in the crowd. In one minute, RoboCop takes the guy out. Maybe Novak has a point that RoboCop and similar creations to him are the future of American justice. How can you argue this point? If Murphy wasn’t there, the man would have gotten away.

We can’t shy away from the reality of the fact that “Men weren’t up to the task but Alex Murphy, a robot cop, was“. In another segment, Novak brings up Murphy uncovering corruption within the DPD, and he gives the hero of the movie massive credit in doing so, while also using it to articulate his point of why OmniCorp is doing the right thing. Once again, it’s fair, as Novak pointing out how the men and women who swore to keep us safe being bought off is a very real thing. It’s at this moment where you become conflicted as Novak states as a response to the news, “Machines, however, are corruption free. Americans could be living in a country where law enforcement is not only efficient but incorruptible. Thank you, Alex. For all that you’ve done and all that you are”. You can’t help but shake your head, but then nod right after thinking, “Damn, he has a point!”. Even at Novak’s most egregious moments of political bias like his outright championing of the repeal of the Dreyfus Act, there is part of us that that become invested in his words as a point of discussion. The fix is in when Novak introduces Sellars as a “visionary and true patriot” on his show to argue with a virtual Hubert and influences the final stance of the argument with the emphatic and amusing asking of the viewer at home, “Has the US Senate become pro-crime?” right after Sellars asks Dreyfus why he’s holding America back. Knowing what the characters know and what the protagonist goes through, we still can’t help but wonder how the public would react to Novak’s words if this hypothetical movie were in fact real. How popular would Novak be and how massive would this argument be between Sellars and Hubert? It’s a point of contention to watch and is a fun element added to the movie to separate itself completely from other productions in the multimedia franchise and a wonderful discussion topic in general (“I know some of you may think this line of thinking is dangerous and these machines violate civil liberties. Some of you even believe that the use of these drones overseas makes us the same kind of bullying imperialists that our forefathers were trying to escape. To you, I say stop whining!”).

Michael K. Willaims plays the role of Det. Jack Lewis, being the first male cop that RoboCop is partnered with in the history of the franchise. He’s not given a big enough role to make a huge difference, but it’s a nice change of pace this time around and his inclusion fits the male-dominated action spectacle the movie ends up becoming. Rounding out the cast is the rough Jackie Earle Haley who does a great job as a secondary antagonist who has this vendetta against Murphy simply because of the RoboCop project’s existence. He does a great job at getting under the viewer’s skin. Besides them, Abbie Cornish stands out for a lot of reasons as well. First of all, I adored the decision to let Murphy reveal his existence to his family as soon as he gets the chance. Though this is the exact opposite of what has been ingrained in the character’s mythology from the very beginning, it’s over and done with at this point. In the risk of making this a shot-for-shot remake, some things had to be changed. Because of how depressing it was previously, allowing for Joel Kinnaman’s Alex Murphy to be the most humanized version of RoboCop was a great decision. Plus, it added a whole other layer of emotions and philosophical questions for the characters to face. Can his family accept who he is, knowing how things will never be the same? Just seeing Clara rest her head on Murphy’s metal chest saddens the viewer because she loves her husband and is glad that he’s alive, but where does their relationship truly go from here? Murphy doesn’t know either. At first, he was more hesitant about pushing forward than she was. In fact, when he woke up and was shown his reality by Norton, he pleads for assisted suicide. This doesn’t feel right. It feels like an act against God, and Murphy’s rush of intense feelings in seeing what is left of him is too overwhelming for him to understand. Cornish does a wonderful job in showcasing these subdued fears as well. Though Clara spends her time arguing with OmniCorp once they zombie-fy Murphy and she goes to the press to shed light on the situation, there was so much more cooking with her character and their relationship moving forward that was begging to be explored in a sequel. Sadly, that will never come to pass.

Even so, the decision in not breaking up Murphy’s family for good this time around was a great one and should be applauded by RoboCop fans for this sweet and endearing change of pace for an otherwise action-focused remake.

There’s something about star Joel Kinnaman that is very likable too. Whether it’s his seamless balancing of being an action hero as well as an emotional lead, doing a great job at investing the audience in his characters with a certain level of earnestness in all his performances, he has grown to become an underrated leading man over the years. In RoboCop, he connects on all three levels. To open the film, he embodies a cool, hard-nosed, cynical, tough Detroit city cop to perfection. There is this vigor and roughness to him that make this Alex Murphy feel like a real Detroit citizen, especially in-tune with the modern era. Truthfully, it gives Peter Weller’s Alex Murphy a run for his money. Weller will always be the best RoboCop, but Kinnaman’s Murphy is about as realistic as a no-nonsense city detective as it gets in the first act. Next, there are the initial stages of realization that Kinnaman also nails, with Murphy waking up to what has happened and how difficult it is for him to process being a cyborg. It’s different from the original film in that Murphy’s mind is fully intact here. As we remember in the original movie, Weller’s Murphy has his memory wiped during the process of RoboCop’s creation until it fights back by the end of the movie where Murphy does retain his humanity, despite OCP’s best efforts. In this remake, they remove this depressing aspect of the character and go the emotional route of Murphy having to come to the acceptance that he is alive but barely, and this was the only way in which he can remain alive. The horrifically uncomfortable scene where Murphy asks Norton to show him his reality, and Norton does so by using machinery to completely separate his body to present to him what remains of his human parts could bring a tear to your eye. It’s a moment that puts the viewer in the shoes of the main character and has them imagine how they would react. It’s something you can’t even fathom, which is why it’s so heart-wrenching. The horrors of the aftermath of Murphy’s near-death is just as devastatingly good as the first movie. It’s completely different in its depiction of the events but is just as impactful.

You almost want to look away because of how great the CGI is in making it look real, but it’s also a mesmerizing moment that has to happen to remind the audience how traumatic of a reality Murphy is facing, amidst all the cool action sequences that are to come. As haunting as the moment is, it’s a fundamental aspect of the character’s journey so it cannot be avoided. Thankfully, they do it in a fantastic way. Considering how desensitized most viewers are because we’ve damn near seen it all, the production does a great job in still delivering this reality check for the protagonist, and Kinnaman does a wonderful job in reacting to it. The other facet the actor shines with is when Norton sets the modules to absorb dopamine and noradrenalin to take away his emotions and ability to feel anything, pushing to have his dopamine levels drained to 2%. You genuinely feel the terror when Norton asks how he feels and Murphy responds with a straightened-out, robotic response of “I feel fine Dr. Norton”. Your heart sinks in your realization that this is a whole different Murphy. For what could have been another regular action movie, this was a great performance considering all that is asked of Kinnaman throughout the running time. It went under-the-radar because the focus of most critical and fan-reviewed pieces revolved around comparing it to the original movies, but Kinnaman does a great job at making Alex Murphy his own. Without a doubt, he is worthy in his attempt to take on the role Peter Weller made famous. As a matter of fact, the way the film is geared around Murphy and the direction in where the narrative goes, it almost feels wrong in describing the protagonist as RoboCop because “Alex Murphy” never leaves the screen. The RoboCop costume becomes a part of him, but Murphy persists like no other Alex Murphy before him. Maybe part of it is Kinnamon playing it straight instead going for the monotone line delivery made famous by Weller and all the other versions of RoboCop, but the other part is that Murphy’s heart seems too strong to be forgotten in the midst of the action.

Even when he gets his closest to becoming full “Robo”, his heightened sensors reacting to pleas from Clara are enough to bring his heart and mind out of the depths to beat Norton’s machinery that almost eliminated his humanity entirely, shocking Norton’s entire team because Murphy’s humanity becomes strong enough to somehow override the system’s priorities, bringing his dopamine levels back to normal by his own doing. It might be impossible, it might be the remake playing things too safely and being a far cry from the cynical view of the older movies in the franchise, but is it the worst thing in the world for this remake to have hope and show the strength of the human spirit?

I think not.

Along with the awesome decision we have been clamoring for since RoboCop 2 for the cyborg hero to be given a specialized motorcycle to drive that only the animated series RoboCop: Alpha Commando seemed to understand, the action is everything it needs to be. It’s high impact, it’s intense, and the shootouts are phenomenal. The original RoboCop still takes the cake on general coolness, and its ultraviolence was so much fun, but this remake does a great job in making it work for the modern era without it being too much for audiences to take in. Plus, he moves with the athleticism of the cartoons, which is a great use of the CGI. Really, it’s something RoboCop always needed to be, but the old films weren’t capable of making this happen with the practical effects it had back then. On top of that, it needs to be noted that Bad Boys: Ride or Die isn’t the first movie to attempt a video game styled shootout sequence. This RoboCop does a version of it a few times with some first-person shooter action and it’s phenomenal, along with the mesmerizing black-and-white night vision sequence at Vallon’s warehouse being arguably the movie’s best. Besides this, all of the sequences in which RoboCop shows off the abilities of his suit en route to the next stoppage of crime is just as entertaining as the explanations of its technology this go-around and the reasoning behind it. In terms of scientific detail, they have thought of everything, and the sequences involving Murphy exploring the abilities given to him through Norton’s information dump are presented in an engrossing way. More than ever before is the viewer interested in the insides of RoboCop. With the original movies, RoboCop shooting people is enough to suffice, but this remake does a fantastic job in all the stuff leading up to the action sequences. Watching Norton upload the entire DPD database in Murphy’s brain, allowing him to have instantaneous access to criminal records and the entire archive of CCTV footage from 2011 to that day, is an insane sequence to give the viewer just an ounce of what the RoboCop tech has amounted to in this film. As Norton comments how Murphy’s system draws connections automatically and will link perpetrators to their crimes while giving their exact locations whenever available, this overload of information is exciting and Kinnaman plays it flawlessly.

Fans of pure science fiction will adore moments like this, as Murphy’s eyes track a barrage of arrest videos and files to where he has enough evidence to make 168 arrests right of the bat but also becomes overwhelmed by the constant evils he sees (“I gotta do something!”). It’s a great encapsulation of what Murphy has to go through in his initial stages. With the original movie, it’s the constant replaying of his own death. Here, this does play a part, but it’s moments like him scanning through an entire database that are just as impactful. Following it up with Murphy having a seizure after his mind going straight to his own crime scene was brilliant, as was Murphy utilizing his newfound abilities to solve his own murder and get his vengeance rather than just the latter. Furthermore, I love how he has sensors now where he can tell when a violent response is imminent or someone has a heightened fear response to his threats. Honestly, RoboCop should have always had these capabilities. It’s just another great choice of this remake in a line full of them. The (SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS) sequence in which he recreates the crime scene through a CGI lens and going to his own home’s front yard to play his death over from every angle was such a cool decision, especially will all of the OmniCorp executives having to watch it on their screen not knowing what to do because of how unpredictable Murphy has become. The added bonus of Norton refusing to intervene because Murphy is still technically doing his job was gold. Lastly, that sequence where he gathers the information for Lake and Daniels and heads to the DPD to out them with his damning evidence almost makes you want to stand up and cheer (“You gonna play good cop, bad cop?”- “Nah Daniels, bad cop, RoboCop“).

Though the climax loses a considerable amount of steam with Sellars pulling a Dick Jones, a one-armed Murphy fighting his programming again in the heat of the moment only furthered the legacy of this take on the protagonist by going further than any of the previous versions of the human side of the character (“Dead or alive, you’re coming with me”). Plus, RoboCop’s fight with the ED 209s leading up to it in the lobby of the building was awesome.

Also, it might not be a reference to Wag the Dog, but the plot point of a dead hero being bigger than a hero rings true every single time.

“You have 2 options: I shoot you with 50,000 volts, which may cause respiratory failure, organ malfunction, internal burns, and loss of bowel and bladder control and then I arrest you. Option 2, you tell me where John Biggs’s drug lab is located and then I arrest you. You have 2 seconds to decide”.

Though a Peter Weller line reading would have crushed this, Joel Kinnaman’s delivery of it is good enough to confidently admit that RoboCop is back. Any time the buzzword “remake” is in the headlines, fans assume the worst. In their defense, most of the time they are right. Hollywood should be remaking bad movies to make them better, not movies that are already great to begin with. Though it may not feel like the game-changer the first movie was, nor was it as fun as the second movie, this remake does a good enough job to rise above the hate that came with the announcement of it being greenlit. With a great cast, awesome action, a different series of avenues the narrative takes, and well-intentioned changes between the film and the rest of the series that do improve it in some regard, 2014’s RoboCop was a solid attempt at bringing the franchise back to life. Considering how outdated and cheesy the tongue-in-cheek style of the first RoboCop may have come off in the 2010s if the remake were to try and copy it outright, this modern take on the IP takes the franchise in a more serious, grounded, arguably realistic, and action-packed direction that one could argue it should have always been to begin with. It’s not RoboCop at his finest, but it’s refreshing enough to be likable.

Fun Fact: Darren Aronofsky was originally set to direct but dropped out over time. Russell Crowe, Michael Fassbender, and Matthias Schoenaerts were all considered for the titular role. At one point, Hugh Laurie was to play the CEO of OmniCorp but dropped out. Clive Owen was in the running to replace him until Michael Keaton took it. In addition, Edward Norton was considered for Gary Oldman’s role, Sean Penn for Samuel L. Jackson’s role, Gale Garcia Bernal for Michael K. Williams’s role, and Rebecca Hall for Abbie Cornish’s role.