Today's Review: RoboCop

RoboCop: ***/*****, or 5/10

If there's one thing the 2012 remake of Total Recall taught us, it's that Paul Verhoeven's movies are not easily redone. Nevertheless, studio MGM felt like trying with Verhoeven's first Sci-Fi spectacle, by reimagining the genre classic RoboCop (1987) for the audience of today. Brazilian director José Padilha, known for his action thriller hit film Tropa de Elite, scored this thankless job and he gets credit for trying, but the fact can't be changed the Total Recall curse is adhered to, as this new RoboCop proves yet another remake that is inferior to its predecessor.

Nevertheless, the movie opens on a strong note, when it tries to embrace the satirical touch of the original and apply it to the modern state of affairs. Set in 2028, rightwing political TV commentator Pat Novak (Samuel L. Jackson playing the part just right with apparent delight) publicly laments not deploying robots at the homefront for keeping America safe, while such products are otherwise keeping the peace the world over. Cut to Tehran, where the local population is intimidated into submission by robosoldiers patrolling every street. When suicide bombers protesting their presence attack the automatons, their ruthless efficiency is made clear, as is their lack of human calculation and reasoning when they gun down a boy armed with only a small knife. Novak calls it a success because no American personnel of flesh and blood died, but for the public it is clear these robots still leave something to be desired. And so the OmniCorp multinational decides to combine the organic with the mechanic to construct a more acceptable, friendlier product for keeping the American streets clean. And this is where the promising political comments on today's affairs, ever a welcome food for thought in science fiction flicks, also sadly end.

Enter police officer and family man Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman), who is caught up in undercover operations and suspects his colleagues' corruption. When his car explodes and he is on the brink of death, OmniCorp sees the perfect test subject in him for their 'RoboCop' programme. Saving only the most essential of body parts, sympathetic scientist Norton (the always reliable Gary Oldman) sticks him in a high tech body armour. Controlling his body is one thing, but keeping his mind in check is another matter entirely. The corporation swiftly finds out it's not so easy to confine a man to the status of a product that bows down to its manufacturer's every whim. Eventually they opt to basically brainwash him so the software controls his behavior, rendering him every bit the robot, much to the chagrin of his wife who wants her husband back (as if that's possible when all that's left of him is his head, heart and lungs). Fortunately for her, Murphy's psyche is still alive inside, and it's determined to break out to get his revenge on those that killed him before and return to his loving wife and son.

The main problem this remake suffers from is finding the right balance between action and intelligence that characterized Verhoeven's film. Hellbent on not simply being a mindless remake, the movie spends much of its time exploring the dichotomy between man and machine. Where does the man end and the machine begin? Can the mind truly be mechanized? Such questions the film attempts to answer in more detail than feels obliged, without drawing sufficient conclusions either, as it's clear from the get-go where this RoboCop is mentally going. All the talk of the complications of mind versus matter fail to hit a chord due to the predictable progression of the plot which is devoid of surprises to make the film's philosophy reach any narrative fruition. The overabundance of talk is also the cause of the movie feeling overly light on the action which the title by association with the original film promises. Though the occasional crime fighting delivers what we hoped for, though in portions too small to satisfy, the bland battles between the 'tin man' and his fully machine counterparts just prove less than entertaining. And unlike the original it's all PG-13 stuff, only decreasing the emotional impact.

Another issue working against this film as opposed to the original is the lack of gravitas Kinnaman displays as the titular character. As a regular human being he feels emotionless already – never making you believe husband and wife care that much for each other as the movie would have us think later on – while in his later automatic shape he doesn't strike us as effectively intimidating or commanding. Though it must be said there's little to hold against the new RoboCop armor, or Kinnaman's look when he wears it, it's his performance that simply fails to deliver the right note. At least the movie fares better in terms of acting thanks to veterans like Oldman and Jackson, while decent character actors Michael K. Williams, Jackie Earle Haley and Michael Keaton also do their best to make things work, but miscasting the main character is an error not so easily remedied. At least the movie proves more convincing in the art department, the various environments and robots, including RoboCop's famous antagonist ED-209, making up a little for Kinnaman's human flaws.

The new RoboCop is a watered down version of the original that isn't as smart as it thinks it is, nor provides the amount of action it should. Most vexing is it never gets near the witty, sardonic levels of Verhoeven's satirical approach to the original, despite definitely giving it a decent try at first, too quickly abandoning such thoughts for more conventional action fare for the rest of the film, except there's just not that much notable action to speak of. It goes too far to say it's totally boring, especially for those who never bothered to see the original (which they still should do regardless). Nevertheless, it would have done well to feature less talk, more action; an argument not often heard for this type of movie. At the same time, it becomes painfully clear there's only ever going to be one RoboCop, and his name is not Joel Kinnaman.