When I first heard that RoboCop was being remade, my excitement level was at about zero. RoboCop is a beloved movie from my childhood, and the much panned Total Recall remake, along with every Michael Bay edition of my childhood heroes, had me just shaking my head at the prospect of seeing an “all-new” version of RoboCop.
But then I heard new RoboCop star Joel Kinnaman interviewed by Chris Hardwick on the Nerdist podcast, and my desire to see the new RoboCop, hereafter referred to as Robot Cop, grew. Hardwick seemed like he honestly enjoyed the advance screening he had of the movie, and Kinnaman came across as very satisfied with the final product.
I enlisted my pal Graig for a man-date to the Regal Union Square. “Two for Robot Cop, please.” Armed with a #2 combo, we took our seats. Side note: Morgan Spurlock should do a sequel to Super Size Me where he goes to the movies once a day and orders a combo at the snack bar. The medium soda at a chain movie theater looks as large if not larger than a super-size at McDonald’s.
Robot Cop is terrific. It’s a great action movie, and like the original, makes for good social commentary on America’s recent wars in the middle east, eugenics, and corporations vs the individual.
There’s one scene in Robot Cop that I just can’t shake, and it’s the one where Alex Murphy (Cyborg Constable) sees what’s left of his organic body after the explosion. It’s not much. Murphy demands to never see himself like that again. He had my full support in that decision, because I really wanted to stop looking at his lungs inflate and deflate.
I’m currently watching The Wire for the first time, so I was very excited to see Michael K. Williams play Alex Murphy’s partner, Jack Lewis. Omar’s a cop!
“Omar comin’.”
At the climatic rooftop scene, did you spot original RoboCop Peter Weller as one of the security guards? He has such a distinctive voice that I jumped in my seat as soon as he spoke. “Peter Weller! Peter Weller!” I loved that they incorporated him into the movie, but didn’t make a big deal about it.
Even more exciting than seeing Williams and Weller, was seeing the ED-209 in the movie. I had one of those action figures when I was a kid and thought it was the most bad-ass thing ever. It still is.
Side note, the second: When RoboCop’s black armor was revealed, all I could think of was Hooper X going off about Darth Vader in Chasing Amy.
When we left the movie, we had a most confusing experience, as there were over 100 20-something hipsters lined up to get into our theater. These guys are all here to see Cyborg Sheriff? As it turned out, no they weren’t. They were lined up for The Grand Budapest Hotel, which makes a lot more sense. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging them. We would have fit it perfectly in that line, and I even saw Grand Budapest Hotel two days later. The only thing setting us apart from the people on line was that I was making robot noises as I robot walked out of the theater. RoboPatron. It was just funny initially thinking that group was eagerly anticipating being let into Robot Cop.