ROBOCOP

Cole's Rating: ★★★
Jesse's Rating: ★★★

Director: José Padilha 

Year: 2014

Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Micheal Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson

Genre: Action/Crime/Sci-Fi

MPAA Rating: PG-13

         The only possible way that you can enjoy Robocop (2014) is if you take everything for granted—and I mean everything. Assume it's possible for a company called Omnicorp to implant a "chip" in someone's head to simulate emotional control. Assume it's possible to just create a robot that is more efficient than the latest technology with no effort whatsoever. And also, assume it's possible for this to be legal. If not, you're not going to get much out of this viewing other than dissatisfaction. But if you turn off the realistic thought processes in your brain, Robocop is going to be one heck of a ride.

        The director of this reboot, José Padilha, shoots this flick at a fast, steady pace, refusing to slow down to elaborate or explain certain plot elements, and, as a result, winds up with a movie that is relatively hard to believe, but still the antithesis of boring. There’s a level of confidence that the screen emits as the movie progresses, and you can tell that the director had a lot of fun making it. From scene one, there’s a detectable sense of vision, and it makes this movie a real payoff. It begins, brilliantly, with the corrupt Samuel L. Jackson character speaking to the American public about the political battle over allowing the robots to rule the streets and serve as cops so that real humans don’t lose their lives. The flip side of this is that the robots have no human empathy and are illegitimate sources of reliability when it comes to dealing with a human life, he explains. As the movie progresses, a disfigured police officer becomes a candidate for a solution called “Robocop”, that comes with its own problems.

        This movie has a lot of veteran actors in it that treat it like serious material; I dug it. There's no Academy Awards that are going to be given here, but that doesn't mean that the actors don't give good performances, because they do. With just a few exceptions, it's true fun to watch this cast bring the story of Robocop to life.

And when it comes to describing the quality of the action scenes, forget about it. All I can say is this: I’ve never seen my uncle fist pump out of excitement before, and when the most intense battle sequence in the film hit the screen, his eyes widen, fist flew in the air, and voice escalated to “this movie’s awesome!”. The futuristic society is brought to life all too well; the effects blend with the fast-paced direction and character involvements. It wouldn't be a sin to call this movie a popcorn flick for the ages.

I feel that, as a critic, it’s my job to credibly persuade my readers whether or not to see a movie, and, with Robocop, I feel that it got a bad rep that it didn't deserve. So, I’ll end on this note: ignore it’s lack of believability. Embrace it’s well intended actors/actresses even though there is a handful of cringe-worthy moments. Love Robocop for the unabashed, high-quality level of entertainment and consider it a craft. I mean, after all, audiences ate up Transformers!

-Written by Cole Pollyea