ROBOCOP (C+)

Bottom Line: It being almost impossible – one would think – to mimic the campy, ham-fisted, tender-hearted, gung-ho machismo of the original, this remake has the courage to update its story to our current political back-and-forth climate on technology and violence.  A valiant effort has been made to make this thing feel like its own synthetically manufactured beast.  The filmmakers utilized brains too by scripting a somewhat fresh story, shoehorning in a few of the original’s classic lines and recruiting big name talent like Oldman, Jackson and Keaton.  The one piece of the ‘Oz Trifecta’ (as I like to call it) puzzle they forgot to implement, ironically, was what the Emerald City’s Tin Man wanted most of all…a heart.  You never really end up caring about the main characters and, in turn, you don’t really feel the pull towards family, justice or riches.  None of the emotion is earned.  Missing out on this key element, we’re left with a movie that’s confidently loud and generically action-packed.  Full of energy, but lacking the satire and soul of the original – this ROBOCOP makes for a fun yet still fairly forgettable February flick.

Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Kornish and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by: Jose Padilha (ELITE SQUAD)

Rated: PG-13

Running time: 108 minutes

Story: In RoboCop, the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years - and it's meant billions for OmniCorp's bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit - is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance to build a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice. (c) Sony

Official site: www.robocop.com