Obviously inferior to the first ROBOCOP in just about every way, this imaginatively titled sequel at least has the benefit of not having to waste a lot of time setting up the concept and gets right down to business right away. While Verhoeven's ironic and darkly comedic over- the-top touch is largely absent, the level of bleakness and icky unpleasantness manages to surpass the original.
PRO'S:
There's a lot more action and unpredictability than in the original, which was tighter and moved faster but let's face it, felt more formulaic.
Dark seedy atmosphere brilliantly set up in the opening scene and it never lets up. This time there's drugs and corrupt cops in addition to the usual corporate extortion and anarchy as featured in the first movie.
This film features some of the best stop-motion animation I've ever seen and there's a lot of it, beating out even the works of Ray Harryhausen, David Allen, and Jim Danforth. I'm shocked that none were involved with this film. Much like in the original, it's difficult in many scenes to tell what's practical and what's matted in. It makes one wonder what stop-motion could look like now had the movie studios stuck with honing the craft rather than abandoning it in favor of much-cheaper CGI.
The fake commercials and newscasts are just as good as in the original, keeping things moving along briskly and with the right dose of dark comedy here and there. They even nicely tie in with the main plot more- so than in the original.
Most of the surviving original cast returns.
Oddly enough I liked Leonard Rosenmann's score almost as much as Basil Poledouris's music in the original. I'm not sure why they decided to go with a new direction with the music, and at times it sounds a little too much like STAR TREK IV, but overall I'd say it fits very well.
CONS:
As intentionally grim as the film is, it's just not very "fun". There's a lot of nasty scenes such as when a policeman is tortured by a deranged surgeon and a brain transplantation scene which is needlessly protracted. I feel they misunderstood Verhoeven's intentions in the original to make things like a comic book and just figured lots of violence and unpleasantness was the same thing.
The writing and characterizations are much less compelling than in the original. Murphy and Louis are given very little interesting to do, leaving it to the villains to carry the show. This feels exacerbated by the overall much lower-quality performances. The goofball playing the mayor really just didn't fit with everything else in the movie.
The level of realism is quite lacking asking us to believe that a well- organized gang would defer to a 12-year-old kid. I'd almost call it fun social commentary, but in this regard the film takes itself oddly seriously. A lot feels missing here, with a lot of established villains just disappearing rather than being killed off.
Generally there's a just a lack of imagination all-round. We learn nothing new about Robocop (outside of that he's willing to turn away from his old family) and don't really get to see him enough. The film seems to react more to the original film rather than add to its canon.
Bottom Line:
All-in-all though I'd call this film fairly successful. It's hampered by a lack of creativity and intelligence but gives us more Robocop doing his thing. At least it's nowhere nearly as insulting as "3" or the remake.
PRO'S:
There's a lot more action and unpredictability than in the original, which was tighter and moved faster but let's face it, felt more formulaic.
Dark seedy atmosphere brilliantly set up in the opening scene and it never lets up. This time there's drugs and corrupt cops in addition to the usual corporate extortion and anarchy as featured in the first movie.
This film features some of the best stop-motion animation I've ever seen and there's a lot of it, beating out even the works of Ray Harryhausen, David Allen, and Jim Danforth. I'm shocked that none were involved with this film. Much like in the original, it's difficult in many scenes to tell what's practical and what's matted in. It makes one wonder what stop-motion could look like now had the movie studios stuck with honing the craft rather than abandoning it in favor of much-cheaper CGI.
The fake commercials and newscasts are just as good as in the original, keeping things moving along briskly and with the right dose of dark comedy here and there. They even nicely tie in with the main plot more- so than in the original.
Most of the surviving original cast returns.
Oddly enough I liked Leonard Rosenmann's score almost as much as Basil Poledouris's music in the original. I'm not sure why they decided to go with a new direction with the music, and at times it sounds a little too much like STAR TREK IV, but overall I'd say it fits very well.
CONS:
As intentionally grim as the film is, it's just not very "fun". There's a lot of nasty scenes such as when a policeman is tortured by a deranged surgeon and a brain transplantation scene which is needlessly protracted. I feel they misunderstood Verhoeven's intentions in the original to make things like a comic book and just figured lots of violence and unpleasantness was the same thing.
The writing and characterizations are much less compelling than in the original. Murphy and Louis are given very little interesting to do, leaving it to the villains to carry the show. This feels exacerbated by the overall much lower-quality performances. The goofball playing the mayor really just didn't fit with everything else in the movie.
The level of realism is quite lacking asking us to believe that a well- organized gang would defer to a 12-year-old kid. I'd almost call it fun social commentary, but in this regard the film takes itself oddly seriously. A lot feels missing here, with a lot of established villains just disappearing rather than being killed off.
Generally there's a just a lack of imagination all-round. We learn nothing new about Robocop (outside of that he's willing to turn away from his old family) and don't really get to see him enough. The film seems to react more to the original film rather than add to its canon.
Bottom Line:
All-in-all though I'd call this film fairly successful. It's hampered by a lack of creativity and intelligence but gives us more Robocop doing his thing. At least it's nowhere nearly as insulting as "3" or the remake.