Growing up, Robocop was my idol. I’m still unsure why I was allowed to watch such a brutal action movie at the age of 6, but whatever. It is what it is. Robocop, he was my hero.
I wore costumes, and told people in Primary School he was my Dad, so going into my teens, I still had a lot of love for the character.
Fast forward to 2014, being 21 years old. A reboot comes out. I was excited, hyped, and it looked like a fantastic take on the man trapped inside the machine. Something the originals failed to capture properly.
For the most part, I really enjoyed it. Except the rating. I fully believe anything Robocop related should be an 18, simple as that. The reboot had everything else, it focused on Alex Murphy and his family, him solving his own “murder”, and remembering everything. It had the right ingredients but unfortunately, it was the other little things that became a bit too much.
The 2014 reboot only managed to rake in $242,688,956 worldwide on a budget of $100,000,000. Ultimately a direct sequel to this was trashed, and something else came forward.
Instead of attempting another reboot, they brought Neill Blomkamp in. This is where my problem is. Robocop Returns is happening, but it’s not a reboot or a sequel to the third. Instead, they’re completely ignoring everything else making this a direct sequel to the 1987 original.
Either way, I would watch it, but that movie was around 23 years ago. Obviously plot details and actors cast are still up in the air, but I struggle to see how they can pull this off. All the actors have obviously gotten older, the technology used then is different now.
Not to mention if he’s been gone for 23 years, and they go down that route – then it’s just going to leave too many questions as to what’s been happening all that time.
Questioning the title to my article, could it save the franchise? It’s unlikely. Even the 2014 Robocop had quite a large hype surrounding it but still failed to hit the ball.
When Robocop Returns does come out; will I watch it? Of course. Will I go to the cinema, get a large popcorn, a Tango Ice-blast and bask in my childhood? Absolutely. Do I think it’s the right move to make? I’m not sure.
I still love Robocop, so whichever way this decides to go I’m all for. I genuinely believe they would have been better off completely rebooting the franchise. Bring back the OG suit, and just recast and start a brand new trilogy.
I know the 2014 tried and failed, but ultimately I feel the PG-13 rating never helped, and neither did the over-the-top Power Rangers feeling suit either. Robocop is supposed to be slow, bulky, and just outright terrifying. In a good way of course.
Either way, I just want more Robocop. It deserves attention. More attention than it gets now.
What do you think? Should they reboot? Or are you happy with a sequel reboot, essentially?
