RoboCop, nah

                                      

On my recent trip to Bohol, RoboCop was played on the return trip to Cebu. 

It was the 2014 remake version, and while it is a fresh movie, I think it was dull.

Expected more from this movie as I was a big fan of the original '87 RoboCop. Of course I was still a little kid but it captured my imagination like every boy and even girls my age back then.

As a kid, I never really understood the subtle political tones of the '87 version and all its satire woven within the movie. But it was a fresh movie back then. A robot cop roaming the streets bringing justice. Wow, every kid must have watched that movie even if it was really violent. And I remember we would imitate RoboCop's movements, it was fun back then.

The remake however, for me, feels rather dull. Not much satirical humor. RoboCop himself looks like he is just a regular guy wearing an exoskeleton body armor much like Iron Man. After a days work he can just remove his armor and be a couch potato. Actually the new RoboCop is very similar to Iron Man in terms of the design of his armor. This one can run fast and has fluid movements as compared to the slow mechanical movements of the original, which actually added to the menacing aura of the robot cop. This time the story is totally different and it takes a while in the movie before Robocop finally emerges on screen. This new movie also showed us what is left of officer Murphy which in the original left us guessing what remains of him. The mystery added to the charm of the original movie: part man, part machine, all cop.

Action pieces though are stunning and entertaining. However, again it fells not as refreshing as the original since there have been a lot of big action blockbusters recently.

This new movie however has RoboCop more practical and human from the start. He has a variety of weapons depending on the situation like a stun gun. He can opt to disable instead of killing. His memory is intact as to being wiped cleaned in the original. He rides a motorcycle instead of a squad car. And it tackles modern day issues on drones and mechanized weapons on the battlefield. The Murphy family has a major role in this film too, which is nice.

But watching the whole movie I can't help but still compare it to the original '87 movie. That's me, I am biased since I enjoyed and still like the original RoboCop.

Thankfully we decided to watch the Lego Movie instead of this at the time it was playing in the cinemas, I would have surely regretted it.