The reboot of the franchise was on the horizon for a long time, and it already had a hard time trying to top the 1987 original. It released worldwide and gathered $242,688,965 at the Box Office. It was also not well received, and today sits on a 48% Tomatometer and 49% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
I was a huge fan of Robocop growing up and even still to this day I can watch all of the movies and thoroughly enjoy them. After all, this is a franchise with hugely untapped potential, it’s just never been showcased.
I know the 2014 reboot had issues, but for me personally, it’s a far cry away from what a lot of people made it out to be. Even my friends and family tore into the movie after the release.
Whereas for me, I actually loved the reboot. I adored the fact it actually told the family side of the story. In the originals, it’s just kind of brushed aside and never came to light all that much.
In the reboot, it showed us the tragic effects this would have on a family. Especially Murphy’s wife and child. This was something I enjoyed more than anything about the movie in comparison to the original.
We also get to see how Alex comes to terms with now being more cyborg than man. The scene where he actually sees the extent and damage done, it’s kind of heartbreaking. Imagine being in that position?
They wiped his memory, but this was AFTER he became ‘Robocop’. Something I actually preferred, because as stated above, we got to see the effects of his family. The movie played more to the side of that, and if I’m being honest, they did extremely well with that.
Now of course, as I did state the movie is far from perfect don’t get me wrong. However, the original was far from perfect too, but the original was close.
My major issue is the fact the movie was rated PG-13. An absolute and pure no-no from the off. When the original was brutal and it’s something people loved about it, you don’t reboot it and drop the age to PG-13. This is Robocop, after all, it’s supposed to be brutal.
Now one thing I want to touch on is the actual ‘suit’ itself. It’s a grey area for me because I both loved and hated it. In reality, it made sense. Technology has vastly advanced in our time, not to mention the time in which the movie is set.
Having a Darth Vader style cyborg just isn’t flashy, but then, on the other hand, you just can’t beat the original. The way he moves, the way he talks, everything is just damn right terrifying. So I’m on the fence with that, and I kind of prefer either-or. Although I do edge towards the original very slightly.
The reboot movie never threw Alex straight into the line of duty either, he had to undergo training to get to grips with his cybernetics and AI systems installed into the helmet. Again, something that makes sense instead of just automatically coming to grips with everything that’s just happened. Something like that would take time.
Moving onto my best part is the fact he solves his own murder. After his mind is wiped, he comes across an unsolved murder and begins to investigate. Obviously he doesn’t know it’s his own at that point, but it’s just so interesting.
I know the original touched on this a lot too obviously, but the reboot was better done in this aspect, especially when the operators literally say it. The action scenes following were just fantastic as well.
In the original, Murphy is ‘killed’ by being absolutely peppered with bullets. I mean peppered. He lost limbs, and even now I feel uneasy watching it. This made you hate the gang all that more because they were directly involved, laughing, making Alex look ridiculous whilst killing him.
In the reboot, there was a bomb planted under his car which in turn, obviously, causes an explosion which ‘kills’ Alex. I find that to be lazy writing if I’m honest. The original does this far better, purely because of the direct involvement, the faces you see and you’re desperate for Alex to get revenge. However, in the reboot, you don’t care. That’s a let down for me.
So all in all, I love both. The reboot was a lot better than what people made out. The major issues they complain about is the suit, the PG-13 rating and the writing. All of which are valid points, but there’s a lot more to it than this. More so the writing, you can tell the movie was trying to set up more than just one film, which no surprise nothing happened after.
If the movie had of even just been an 18 rating, I feel like the Directors could have done a lot more with this. Let’s be honest, the cast was phenomenal. Joel Kinnaman did a fantastic job with Alex and Michael Keaton did amazing. Of course, as always, Morgan Freeman is always an exceptional addition to any cast.
If I was to rate the movie I would put it closer to a 7.5/10. So still pretty decent considering. It still is a good movie to watch and done well. It’s just a shame it was received the way it was.
What are your thoughts on the movie? Did you enjoy it or hate it? Let me know down in the comments below.
