So now two new trailers have arrived for the film which is fast becoming the bane of all pop culture fans everywhere. Yes you guessed it it’s the Robocop remake. Why do people hate this movie so much compared to other remakes? The lure of nostalgia is obviously strong and the fact the original movie is beloved by fans (because of its hard-hitting violence and social commentary means the new movie has very big expectations to live up to. As a Robocop fan myself I feel their pain, there have been too many sub standard remakes to make anyone think differently. But after seeing the first trailer a while ago it did peak my interest enough to not be to judgemental about it. This new trailer expands more on the information we saw in the first trailer. Watch it below and see what you think.
Some interesting things come out of this. We see a lot more emphasis on Alex Murphy as a family man and the problems caused with him now being a big old cyborg. Gary Oldman Doctor gets to show the more sensitive side of science here and he is engaging enough, while Joel Kinnaman as Murphy looks in this trailer a little bit of an under whelming screen presence. In his defence though aside from a few brief moments of confusion over his new form, he is mostly seen blowing stuff up which we see a fair bit off. ED 209 and the Robodrones cover the streets and some nice scenes of Robocop in training and jumping about on the street show the action is a lot more streamlined and (dare we say) Hollywood than the gritty original. The robots have a Battlestar Galactica feel to them which I am still not sure about, more exposure should confirm whether I like or dislike this style. The worry that the speed that the CGI scenes whiz by the viewer could easily turn this into another Transformers movie if all the film is constantly like this.
Let’s move on to the next trailer now and we notice a slightly different tone here. Check out the trailer below.
“Why is America so Robophobic?” is not only an awesome line but could also be a little tongue in cheek jab at the haters of the film. There are some more alternative action scenes here, but for the most part this focuses on the propaganda element of the film and it does this to great effect.. Media spinning Samuel L Jackson as Pat Novak and money grabbing Michael Keaton as Raymond Sellars shine when ever they are on-screen (not surprising with their strong screen presence). The trailer makes sure that the audience knows that O.C.P are still money grabbing scum bags.
So overall the film still looks kind of impressive and this reviewer is still very interested to see how this all pans out. There are some concerns here aside from the memories of the past affecting the present. The action scenes from both trailers, though they look fast and streamlined also look a bit to sharp and kind of hollow. It fits in with the style of movie they are going for, less grime more style but I’m concerned that this will become more style over substance. This gleaming, futuristic look the film is going for were everything is made to look slick and polished makes Murphy having his hand still human seem slightly redundant. Would O.C.P not just whip it off and give him a robot hand as it is more productive? I can understand the face exposure because that shows a human side to him which people can relate to. I assume the hand has been left there as a nod to the fans. Story wise I doubt it will make a difference either way. I have noticed that each trailer seems to make Robocop less cop and more superhero like. The shots of him jumping high up in the air and the sleek, black armour he now has on would not look a miss in an X-Men movie. Some of the fears I have about this been a tad dull and suffering from Total Recall remake syndrome (look at my previous article on this to see what I mean ) are still there, but it is tricky to truly know from just a trailer. At least it warrants a watch and if nothing else I want to be able to see this film and then say whether it crashed or burned through my own view point. All we need is an entertaining movie and that cannot be too hard to make right? Well should not be to long until we find out the films released on February 2014 (changes withstanding). For now I leave you with some publicity stills that showcase a few familiar faces you may recognise from the above trailers (like Jackie Earle Haley as Mattox). Enjoy and remember don’t be a Robohater people!
Grizzly Bomb 