RoboCop, a review

No, I'm not going to review the Lego Movie (though it's really good. Trust me, I'm the guy who didn't like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs or 21 Jump Street, but the Lego Movie is great. Go see it). No, instead I wish to speculate on the future or what several visions of the future looked like back in 1987. Under the direction of Paul Verhoeven (Pre-Showgirls keep in mind), with Basil Poledouris scoring the music, and an inspired script, Robocop would continue the trend the 80's set for us by combining the high-minded science fiction critics crave with the bloody gore and large explosions ADD raddled man-children like. Thus, Robocop was made.

In a dystopian near-future, Detroit, Michigan is on the verge of collapse due to financial ruin and being overrun by crime. To escape mass collapse, the city mayor has signed a deal with the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) to allow them to run the underfunded and destroyed police force, in exchange for allowing OCP to demolish the run-down sections of Detroit and construct a high-end utopia called "Delta City" to be managed by OCP as an independent city-state run by the corporation.

While not as incredibly layered or deep as Verhoeven's later film "Total Recall", "Robocop" is kick to the teeth something I can sit back and enjoy. It's not so much science fiction as it is speculative fiction. And given how little has changed in Detroit since, it's scary how relevant Robocop is in today's society.

A recently-deceased officer is needed for the RoboCop prototype, so OCP re-assigns police officers to more crime-ridden districts, expecting officers to be killed in the line of duty. One such officer is Alex J. Murphy (Peter Weller), who is teamed with Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen). On the first patrol, they chase down a gang led by a ruthless Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith), tailing them to an abandoned steel mill. When Murphy and Lewis are separated, Murphy is gunned down by Boddicker and his gang. In transit to the emergency room, he is soon pronounced dead and his remains are chosen for the RoboCop program.

Even with the dated graphics (which should by no means condemn the film), its use of stop-motion, bloody bodies and explosions (the gas station one in particular had my jaw drop) all add to the piece. Those graphics are complimented by great action able to show all the bloody kills and a deep subtext about privatization. It's a combination that shouldn't be able to work, but it works like gangbusters.

But really, it's the actors that make the movie shine. Miguel Ferrer is a great slimeball who's corporate interests interfere with Murphy's noble intentions. Kurtwood Smith (That's um, Red Foreman for you youngsters out there), is a terrific villain with Nancy Allen being a great action female in the 80's. But it's Peter Weller's ability to control his stoic nature and his emotional states that make the movie. Considering his ability to convey emotion while the top half of his head is covered up is marvelous and he hits it out of the park every time.

Is Robocop dated? Maybe. Gratuitous? Certainly. Fun? Hell yeah. If you've somehow lived under a rock and haven't seen this gem, you owe it to yourself to pick it up and watch it. Highly Recommended.