RoboCop Reboot - Part 4

[Saint]

Saint do you at least like Kinnamin's mannerisms, walk, voice etc? Is there one thing about it you do like? Just curious

There's not enough material in the trailer for me to judge Kinnaman's performance. Most of his shots are action shots, so it's hard to tell how his physical performance will be since it's all fast-paced movements and shooting right now.

As for his voice, again, it's hard to judge because there isn't much there, but my knee-jerk reaction is that Robocop should sound more forceful. Still, "Dead or alive" was okay, so it could go either way.

There's nothing in the footage of Kinnaman that stands out to me and says "He'll do the role well," but there are also no big red flags that tell me he'll do it poorly, so I'm definitely in a "wait and see" mode with regards to him. I don't think he's going to top Weller by any stretch of the imagination, but that's fine. This is clearly a completely different role anyway; it's really only Robocop in name.

Now, as for your question about whether there's anything I like in the trailer? Well, really it depends on the finished product, but I think the idea of marketing Robocop like an iPod is a reasonably clever update of the corporate mentality featured in the original film.

I like elements of Robocop's look. I think the helmet (or at least certain iterations of it, since multiple versions are at play here) is a pretty cool redesign. I like the callbacks to the original design on the silver iterations of the suit, some of those elements are really cool. That said, I don't like the black version of the suit at all (except for the helmet), and I find the practical suit looks pretty bad--which is a shame, because the costume in the original was so well made. Similarly, while I like elements of the CG silver suit, I don't like it's skinny proportions and some other elements. Again, though, it depends on how everything in the final film is presented.

To sum up, my reaction to most elements of the trailer is that there isn't enough shown for me to determine whether it'll be fine, or whether it'll be terrible. Could go either way.

The only thing I'm really certain of at this point is that I strongly dislike the change they've made to the core premise by having Murphy still be a complete, aware human being that just happens to have a sweet robot body. I think that once you take away the story of him rediscovering himself, and finding that self not the same as the person he was before, you don't really have a Robocop movie anymore.

 

[SWAT]

I'm happy they did't do a shot for shot remake of the movie. Still on the fence though.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

There's nothing wrong with him being aware of who he is.

This is a different version of Robocop, exploring different ideas.

Remember, a shot for shot remake would be flat out embarrassing for everyone involved. The original is one of the best sci-fi/action movies ever made.

 

[The Chris]

The only thing I'm really certain of at this point is that I strongly dislike the change they've made to the core premise by having Murphy still be a complete, aware human being that just happens to have a sweet robot body. I think that once you take away the story of him rediscovering himself, and finding that self not the same as the person he was before, you don't really have a Robocop movie anymore.

Yeah I don't find this flip side approach to this very interesting at all. I think my biggest problem besides that is that the footage itself looks really bland and kinda dull. This may sound weird, but the blocking in the "you need to speak to your son" bit looks really funny to me with her running towards the bike arm reached out. If I was them I would have blocked that similarly to the "Murphy, it's you!" scene from the original. I think the trailer itself did a really bad job selling it on a story level. It just makes it feel by the motions and boring. The actor I have no problem with. He's got the goods from what I've seen in other roles and he looks the part, but you're right. They don't really show him do anything, and my goodness he looks like a fool without the visor.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Well Saint thank you for your in depth response, and I do see and agree with many of your points, I guess now that I think about it I really don't 100% like the idea that he is a conscious human I do want him to be more robotic in the longrun, but as you said it's just snippets of footage and we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Van Petrol]

Re-imagining seems more fitting for this than Reboot, imo.

 

[Saint]

I'm perfectly fine with reimagining--indeed, any attempt to replicate the original wholesale would fail. That said, there is a line, and I think they crossed it.

A Robocop movie that isn't about what I described is like a Batman movie that isn't about fighting crime. At that point you've gone beyond "reimagining' right into "in name only" territory.

 

[SpilledInnards]

I'm not opposed to reboots/remakes/re-imagining, yes more often than not they turn out not so great but I'm always curious to see how they turn out, so when they announced Robocop was getting an update I was interested.

Having said that, I watched the trailer and honestly only Murphy's struggle and his relationship with his family appealed to me.

Everything else was run-of-the-mill PG-13 action flick, too sterile, I was reminded of the Total Recall remake from last year.

That's my impression of the trailer, I was not sold.

 

[Tequilla]

It looks sort of enjoyable. Aesthetically its pleasing , much more than for instance the crappy Dredd internet is always hyping .

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Re-watched the trailer a few more times... I'm still not liking the generic and watered-down feel to it (ex. You need to talk to your son). I'll try to keep an open mind but I don't approve the idea of Murphy waking up and still possessing majority of his humanity, and the accident that makes him Robocop.

Hopefully the second trailer does a more fitting job in selling the revisioned story because right now it appears nonexistent.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Personally I actually like the fact that we're going to see him be able to interact with his son and wife and the conflict of them having to deal with what he's become, it's a great conflict that we never saw in the original so props to them for making that a key element, and distancing itself from the original.

 

[Van Petrol]

Btw, to all who are pondering as to whether Murphy vs. the OCP bots in the trailer is a training exercise. [blackout]It is.[/blackout]

 

[Dyson]

Well Saint thank you for your in depth response, and I do see and agree with many of your points, I guess now that I think about it I really don't 100% like the idea that he is a conscious human I do want him to be more robotic in the longrun, but as you said it's just snippets of footage and we'll have to wait and see.

The original was about a man who was stripped of his humanity and his normal life only to regain a sense of his humanity in the end. And because Alex Murphy's humanity was unfairly taken and he, as RoboCop, is really just a product that is being controlled by a company, I think Jose Padilha is going to tell the same basic story and themes, but in different ways. I think the way Padilha is going to tell his RoboCop story by first showing that Alex Murphy is a damn good cop and a loving family man who always carries the weight of justice on his shoulders. Murphy is obviously set up by Omnicorp. They look at Murphy has the best candidate for for this RoboCop "project" so they have him critically injured. Murphy is aware that his has been given a robotic body, but slowly Oldman and Keaton's characters start stripping Murphy of his emotions and memories aka screwing with his brain thus making him more robotic. In the end, his memories begin to come back (like the original) and the man inside the machine starts regaining his humanity.

And the idea of being under control is an obvious idea in the trailer. I even think the idea that Keaton's character can just decide he wants Robo to look the way he wants him to look (from silver to black) shows how under control Murphy is by the greedy corporation. Also, the idea that Oldman's character sets up that Murphy thinks he is in complete under at all times when actually it's Omnicorp that is feeding him commands without him knowing it is incredibly cruel and shows Murphy's humanity is slowly being taken from him bit by bit. It's like if you woke up one morning and decided to kill your whole family, but what if someone else was feeding you the idea of executing that action without you being aware of what is really happening or how you got the idea of killing your family.

So I think with Padilha at the helm, who has proven he is a great filmmaker and storyteller, we'll be getting a strong retelling of RoboCop then many moviegoers and Robo fans realize.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Keynote: While I'm not a massive fan of the trailer, I can't judge the footage yet. Trailer editing causes misconceptions.

Hopefully the struggle within Murphy and the technology (suit) isn't underwhelming.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

One things for sure Keaton looks like he's going to make a pretty good villain.

 

[Heretic]

The thing about keeping his human side and being able to deal with his wife and son to me felt like it was an attempt to fictionalize the soldiers that are coming home with limbs blown off from the war and having to adjust to prosthetics etc with their families. Again...a modern thing that seems right for a 2014 re-imagining.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

The trailer looked good; glad a different direction has been taken with the story, but unfortunately the trailer contained nothing that made scream ''YEAH, ROBOCOP'S BACK, BABY!''.

Anyway, I'm positive it will surpass Robocop 2 & 3.

 

[Alien Anal]

I think my problem with the trailer is that its too fast paced. I cant tell what the heck is going on.

Also really dont like the red light, have not liked it since we got that robocop promo banner from a convention yrs and yrs ago

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

The trailer looked good; glad a different direction has been taken with the story, but unfortunately the trailer contained nothing that made scream ''YEAH, ROBOCOP'S BACK, BABY!''.

Anyway, I'm positive it will surpass Robocop 2 & 3.

I think that's a given at this point, though I do have a soft spot for 2.

 

[Doc Ock]

While i'm not sold yet I'm definitely want to check this out, with Keaton, Oldman, and SLJ in the same film its a must-see on that alone! The original is a classic I wish wasn't getting a reboot but I liked the Total Recall remake so there is some hope...

 

[Superman_200]

The trailer didn't look very good at all. It almost looks like a straight to DVD movie or sci-fi film. The explosion looks very fake. I should have known because instead of the secrecy that surrounds most films, this director was panning his idea on Robocop before the script was even made. It looks bad.

 

[Loki882]

I like that Murphy has more awareness in this version. What's the point of even putting his wife and son in the movie if you don't use them after his transformation?

 

[Travesty]

The only thing I'm really certain of at this point is that I strongly dislike the change they've made to the core premise by having Murphy still be a complete, aware human being that just happens to have a sweet robot body. I think that once you take away the story of him rediscovering himself, and finding that self not the same as the person he was before, you don't really have a Robocop movie anymore.

That's my biggest gripe about the plot, along with how he gets injured. I mean, his wife just stops him on his motorcycle, and tells him he has to go talk to his son.

 

[Stringer]

Looks just as lifeless as the Total Recall remake.

 

[BlackFox]

I'm confused, why is his face and hand perfectly normal when he gets blown up by a car, am I missing something obvious in the trailer?

And SLJ's hair?? WTF!?!!?