RoboCop Reboot - Part 6

[storyteller]

Okay you guys are missing the point. So yes Robocop isn't an autonomous robot but he sorta acts like one. So the public is starting to get the idea that maybe have just a robot wouldn't be a bad thing. Then with the idea that robots can't be morally corrupted, this adds more fuel for the senators to repeal the act.

This was simply all about making the US public more okay with robots on the street. Basically a man mostly robot can do this, really why can't it just be the robot?

 

[Mr.T]

Saw it last night. 7/10 for me. As a big fan of the original, I think this version is decent. My biggest complaint is the lack of a "great" villain. Would love to see a sequel.

 

[DA_Champion]

Here are some actual plot holes in the movie for me, maybe someone else can explain them:

1) Why were there not more people working at Omnicorp? How comes the board meetings only had 4 people attend? Is this company a family restaurant or one of the largest corporations in the world?
2) I'm not buying that autonomous robots would be banned on US soil, but since that's explicitly stated as an axiom of the world building then that's not technically a plot hole.
3) What exactly happened at the end when Robocop managed to fire his gun? Did he just call upon "more willpower"?

 

[Maboroshi]

Here are some actual plot holes in the movie for me, maybe someone else can explain them:

1) Why were there not more people working at Omnicorp? How comes the board meetings only had 4 people attend? Is this company a family restaurant or one of the largest corporations in the world?
2) I'm not buying that autonomous robots would be banned on US soil, but since that's explicitly stated as an axiom of the world building then that's not technically a plot hole.
3) What exactly happened at the end when Robocop managed to fire his gun? Did he just call upon "more willpower"?

1. Dunno. Didnt really bother me.

2. For the reason they showed you at the very beginning of the movie. Americans dont want to see kids gunned down by machines that cant morally distinguish between choices.

3. The whole movie was set up to be Alex's struggle between man and machine while Omnicorp tried to control him. The man won, that's all there is to it. It was this movie's equivalent of "What's your name?" "Murphy." It was his symbol of victory. He is a man, not a machine.

 

[SuperJediHero]

Is it better in IMAX or not?

 

[Bruce Malone]

I'm not sure why they decided to switch him to the black suit for most of the film? I thought the silver/black version was far superior (as the original films design still holds up).

I mean they switch him back after anyways towards the end? It's almost like they're holding that version of the suit for a future sequel, which is far from a guarantee to happen really.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

You just said you knew all the way through that he was going to be evil way, way before his "evil turn." That's a preconceived notion. You already "knew" he was evil so you're interpreting stuff he did along the way that, while not being on the up and up, are not evil.

Dick Jones threatening Bob in the bathroom? Evil

Dick Jones hiring Clarence to kill Bob? Evil

Dick Jones giving Clarence the run of the criminal trade in new Detroit? Evil

Dick Jones telling the police Murphy malfunctioned so they would kill him? Evil

All that happened before he turned the gun on the Old Man. It's a trail of bread crumbs. Keaton didn't follow that pattern at all. He was just a conniving, shrewed CEO

I knew from the start because he didnt show any remorse about Ed-209 killing that kid and still tried to use the situation to his advantage.

Again it wasnt a pre-concieved notion, its something I got from the movie itself.

I may have used the wrong word in evil, but the heel turn at the end wasnt even a heel turn to me. I thought it was right in character with what he had done in the rest of the movie. He was a ****, and didnt care what the consequences were of his actions. So again the turn didnt come from no where for me because it wasnt a turn, it was something I expected from him once I saw his earlier scenes. He wanted Alex dead and thought Alex was the one out line for trying to kill him.

I wouldn't call it a heel turn he didn't give a **** about anybody to begin with. What was most important to him was the bottom line. Throughout the film that was demonstrated over and over from the very beginning. They had a massacre because of machines and he never showed a ounce of remorse over it.

Spot on.

Deserves got nothing to do with it sadly.

And nope haven't seen it yet, and I am still debating on whether I should wait for the blu ray.

Its worth seeing at the cinema, especially if you are a Robocop fan. The new movie is better than Robocop 3 easily, and after a few more viewings will probably be better than Robocop 2, which I also liked.

 

[LostSon88]

They should have switched the two ending scenes. I wasn't a fan with THAT scene being the last scene.

If they flipped it with the scene preceding it it would've been much more effective.

 

[Bran The Man]

Finally saw the film the other day. It had it's weak areas, but other than that it was pretty solid. I'd definitely be interested in a sequel. It was also kind odd how in some of the promo pics, we see Robocop holding the Auto-9, however in the actual film, not only does he not use the gun, but the gun doesn't show up at all.

 

[DA_Champion]

I just realised an additional layer to this movie.

The doctor played by Gary Oldman is called "Dennett".

Daniel Dennett is one of the world's philosophers most associated with the study of free will, and what it means now that we know from science that ancient Greek beliefs about free will are nonsense.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett

I picked up one of his books, "Freedom Evolves", many years ago.

 

[LostSon88]

Is it wrong that I had zero remorse for that kid in the beginning who thought it was smart to bring a knife to a ED-209 gun fight?

Shoulda just listened to his mom and stayed inside..

 

[DA_Champion]

Is it wrong that I had zero remorse for that kid in the beginning who thought it was smart to bring a knife to a ED-209 gun fight?

Shoulda just listened to his mom and stayed inside..

That kid was defending his father and his country. He fought whichever way he could, and I think he really he just wanted to be a martyr.

 

[webhead731]

One thing I have been thinking is I wished they showed the gun(s) coming out of his legs more. I think we got one shot of it?

 

[KenK]

I'm not sure why they decided to switch him to the black suit for most of the film? I thought the silver/black version was far superior (as the original films design still holds up).

I mean they switch him back after anyways towards the end? It's almost like they're holding that version of the suit for a future sequel, which is far from a guarantee to happen really.

It's part of Murphy, and to an extent, Dennett's, character arc. The black suit is a visual representation of what Omnicorp wanted him to be, and the silver suit is him regaining some sense of identity by the end of the film.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Honestly, this was better than I expected. I give it an 8/10.

Now, yes, there were plot holes, lack of a great villain, so-so CGI, underdeveloped characters, and the brutality that made Robocop... Robocop was gone but there were moments in this film that made for it. For example, in the original, Alex awoke from his 'slumber' and he was Robocop. The whereabouts and condition of his family were never introduced to the audience. This updated version, however, gave us a face at the very least. The scene with his son was nicely done.

To me, the positives simply outweighed the negatives. I want a sequel with Jose back at the helm.

 

[Superman_200]

It was better than I expected it to be, a solid 6/10. For me, the biggest issue was

Spoiler

the fact that he wakes up and is like "Oh hey, what is this suit, etc." The whole journey of him finding out who he is really is the heart and soul of Robocop, that he knows right away just makes it seem like he is a man in a black Iron-Man suit. Seeing his face all the freaking time in the suit also humanized Robocop so much so that it just felt like a man in a suit, not a Cyborg. In a way it reminded me more of Wolverine in the sense of "Oh boy, we gave him metal claws and now can't control him, this sucks."

Then there is the ending, so he can not shoot/arrest a Red Asset, yet, he does anyway. No explanation, no "you're fired", no. "You can not do that because that is not what you are programmed to do, oh hey you did it". That made no sense. That makes him seem even more man than machine. Just reeinforcing the notion for the viewer that he really is just a man in a suit.

And the obvious CGI explosion was not very appealing either. With such a budget they sure could have blown up a car/model car.

However; that being said, it was certainly not the worst of remakes even taking into account the PG-13 rating. At least it did not have a lot of cartoon-ishly ridiculous over-the-top characters.

 

[Paradox1]

I just realised an additional layer to this movie.

The doctor played by Gary Oldman is called "Dennett".

Daniel Dennett is one of the world's philosophers most associated with the study of free will, and what it means now that we know from science that ancient Greek beliefs about free will are nonsense.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett

I picked up one of his books, "Freedom Evolves", many years ago.

Good catch

 

[rogue trooper]

Saturday and Sunday estimates: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=robocop2013.htm

Sat: $8,400,000

Sun: $6,150,000

Foreign: $69,900,000

 

[hammerhedd11]

While the opening weekend is definitely lower than what most predicted, I think there is a slight silver lining that the Saturday gross increased over the Friday one. Most films of this kind tend to be more frontloaded on Friday, and considering most of the other new releases this week dropped after their opening day, this might have a little better WOM than usual and not be a total disaster.

 

[SuperInfidelX]

I'm not sure why they decided to switch him to the black suit for most of the film? I thought the silver/black version was far superior (as the original films design still holds up).

I mean they switch him back after anyways towards the end? It's almost like they're holding that version of the suit for a future sequel, which is far from a guarantee to happen really.

I'll wait for the movie to come out on cable. That black suit made me lose enthusiasm to pay and see the movie in the theater. It might seem petty, but I don't like that suit at all and visuals are a big part of the movie for me.

 

[TWayneP]

While the opening weekend is definitely lower than what most predicted, I think there is a slight silver lining that the Saturday gross increased over the Friday one. Most films of this kind tend to be more frontloaded on Friday, and considering most of the other new releases this week dropped after their opening day, this might have a little better WOM than usual and not be a total disaster.

Yea I agree. Even Sunday wasn't a huge drop from Friday. It will be interesting to see how this fares next weekend! Hopefully it has some legs, I know a few of my buds that aren't going to see it until next week because of the snow.

 

[DACrowe]

It was actually not terrible. It just wasn't very good. If the whole movie could have kept the tone of the Tehran prologue and the "Sam Jackson is Fox News on Steroids" epilogue, the movie might have been more fun.

As it is, it is just another generic superhero action movie with some decent acting from the supporting cast.

 

[TWayneP]

I'll wait for the movie to come out on cable. That black suit made me lose enthusiasm to pay and see the movie in the theater. It might seem petty, but I don't like that suit at all and visuals are a big part of the movie for me.

The black suit was the best visual of the movie for me. I didn't like it going in, but actually watching the film completely changed my mind.

I'm not sure how much cooler you could make a modern day RoboCop, as with the silver suit, they added in some cgi flare and made him really feel like a metal monster. The black suit, on the bike, screaming through the night is an awe inspiring visual for me. It's absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Octoberist]

Silver all the way.

 

[Teelie]

While the opening weekend is definitely lower than what most predicted, I think there is a slight silver lining that the Saturday gross increased over the Friday one. Most films of this kind tend to be more frontloaded on Friday, and considering most of the other new releases this week dropped after their opening day, this might have a little better WOM than usual and not be a total disaster.

Friday was also Valentine's Day and a movie like Robocop isn't what most people consider romantic.