RoboCop (1987) Cast:Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith,Miguel Ferrer, Daniel O'Herilihy, Robert DoQui Peter Weller stars as a wounder police officer who is brought back to life as a cyborg policeman who craves vengeance for his murder, despite his memory being wiped out, Robocop still remembers his killers and his family he has lost, along the way of revenge he wonders what he is. Robocop is a fascinating movie full of strong moments and hilarious satire, that as a whole come together as quite an experience. The movie is very violent but the reason why the movie is so strong is mainly due to the scenes of Weller seeming confused by his situation. Peter Weller is quite impressive in the role and manages to be even more human than most of the people in the film, other ideas surface about whether Robocop understands who he is and how to live with what's happened. These scenes alone make Robocop worth seeing but the sharp satire on big business and the media make the movie sharper than one could take at face value. As an actioner Robocop certainly satisfies as a straight ahead actioner, however the reason why Robocop is so great is because it manages to be even more. It's without a doubt one of the true classics from the 80's. D.Paul Verhoeven **** Robocop 2 (1990) Cast:Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Tom Noonan,Gabriel Damon, Felton Perry, Dan O'Herilihy, Robert DoQui, Belinda Bauer Peter Weller returns as Robocop who this time takes on a group of sadistic druglords as well as a cyborg gone bezerk, of course subplots have people wondering if Robocop is human or not, in this entertaining sequel which has lots of action and satire but only occasionally hits the mark. Robocop 2 is far better than most make out, it's technically well made and features some genuinely exciting moments but the main flaws here are the fact that the plot has too much baggage that prevents it from really taking off, the plot is punctuated by so many interesting plots that the movie struggles to come to a satisfying conclusion. Also the film is on overkill throughout featuring lots of gore and mean spirited mayhem, still Robocop 2 has enough energy and satire to make it worth watching for fans of the genre. Plus the beginning commercial alone is worth the price of recommendation. D.Irwin Kershner *** RoboCop 3 (1993) Cast:Robert John Burke,Nancy Allen, Robert DoQui, CCH Pounder, Felton Perry, Rip Torn Burke replaces Weller as Robocop who this time joins a rebellion against OCP since their production of "Delta City" has people thrown out of their homes, however Robocop doesn't get really ticked off until the OCP army kills his partner (Allen) and sends an android ninja after him in this dull sequel. The problem with this lame sequel is that Robocop is hardly in it, along the way he's just sitting there on the sidelines waiting to get repaired, this is indeed a letdown since when one watches Robocop they want to see him up and running and wiping out the scum. Unfortunately the story has all been dumbed down and made cute for kids, as if Robocop should be marketed at children anyway. It doesn't help that Robocop isn't given any real competition and that all of the hilarious satire and commercials found in the first two are blatantly missing, instead replaced with PG-13 styled attempts at humor which is all dead in the water. Infact that's a good way to describe this entry, dead in the water because even the actionscenes are tediously staged giving us a movie that seems rushed and full of bad ideas. While RoboCop 2 gets a bad wrap for it's half baked ideas, RoboCop 3 gets a bad wrap just because it's so banal and wooden in it's follow through. Besides as Robocop, Burke lacks any of Weller's genuine charisma. D.Fred Dekker * |