The biggest problem with Jose Padilha's remake of "RoboCop" is the fact that, at its heart, it is a really boring movie. It is a very mild mannered action movie, that offers a couple of decent shootouts, and a couple of throwaway references to the original film (my favorite being Jackie Earle Haley summoning Bixby Snyder), but that is it. The story manages to focus too heavy on Alex Murphy's family, and makes them a facet in every decision of the film. Their mere presence drags the entire movie to a halt in many situations. Joel Kinnaman doesn't fare too well as Alex Murphy either. He felt more natural in the suit than out of it, because out of the suit, his monotonous voice and robotic emotions didn't work. Thankfully, most of the supporting cast picked up his slack, and made the film mostly bearable. Gary Oldman as Dr. Norton, the man who builds RoboCop, is predictably excellent, as is Samuel L. Jackson as a corporate stooge/media talking head. Michael K. Williams, on the other hand, isn't given enough to do. He spends most of the movie getting shot, or saying stupid lines like, "At least you're the right color." And, "No, bad cop, RoboCop." You know what? I take it back. The biggest problem with Jose Padilha's remake of "RoboCop" was wasting Michael K. Williams.
Grade: C-
3D: N/A
Easter Egg: The original "RoboCop" theme plays at the very end of the credits.
Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton
Director: Jose Padilha
Writer(s): Joshua Zetumer - Original Film: Edward Nuemeier & Michael Miner
RT: 108 min
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action including frenetic gun violence throughout, brief strong language, sensuality and some drug material
Biggest mistake they made was going from that hard R to PG-13. I know PG-13 is box office gold, but come on, show some balls and keep it R.
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