The new Robocop remake just released its first trailer this week. To me, the movie is iconic and defines the entire genre of sci-fi action flicks. Well at least in the 80s. Back as a kid I was totally geeked out by this movie and I've lost count of how many times I've watched it. Saying I'm a big fan is an understatement. Although the sequels and the series and other spinoffs were pretty much terrible, the original stands out and I believe many guys my age still love Robocop until this day.
I'll just sum up my initial thoughts in this short blog post. Firstly, I felt that the technology was too advanced for a Robocop movie. With that kinda high technology drones and cyborgs, Robocop becomes irrelevant. Not to mention I love how Robocop moves in the original. Here he jumps around and rides a motobike. Too advanced, I say. I also didn't like how he can flip his visor around like Ironman. In the original, you never get to see the human in him when he first appears. The whole process of finding himself via lost memories was the draw of the movie, and the picture you see below is the money shot of the movie: the first time we see his eye after he becomes Robocop. In that instant, you realise that Murphy was still alive.
This of course links to the scene where he unscrews his helmet, and sees himself via a cracked mirror for the first time. Even without much dialogue, you cannot help but feel for him and how he has lost everything and has become a product working for a large evil corporation. But in the remake, he runs around, fires double uzis, and flips his visors around. I'm not too comfortable with that but I'll hold on to my hopes. And yeah, I did get goosebumps hearing the line "Dead or alive, you're coming with me." But context is important. If he says that to any random thug I'll get pretty disappointed. In the original he says this to Clarence Boddicker, as both Alex Murphy and Robocop, and that's what made it standout. Till the next trailer these are my thoughts for now :)
