*********************SPOILERS THROUGHOUT**************************
I've always been a fan of the original Robocop film and have seen it several times. To me it's a film that is a nice blend of social commentary, satire, intelligence, action, entertainment & heart. I hadn't seen the sequel for some time and after watching it this evening I can only say that it was partly successful...
Robocop 2 starts out in a similar vein to the first film with police officers on strike. As a result of the police being on strike, Detroit City has made a descent into lawlessness; at the start it shows individuals pillaging from each other and looting shops and convenience stores. I also liked the fact that at the start we see Robocop trying to make a connection to his past life... this for me was a big strength in the first film and is a very emotive part of the story. Sadly it isn't given much focus here which is a shame as it is a strong and interesting aspect of the Robocop story.
What really lets this film down is the story and the simple truth of the matter is that it just isn't as strong as the story in the first film; everyone is addicted to drugs? Is that all we get here? It's perhaps not necessarily the concept that's bad, but the way it's executed here with the writers not really offering much commentary on the subject. I would have forgiven this aspect of the plot more if it had been remotely interesting, but I just found it really hard to get involved with this story.
There also seemed to be pointless deviations such as Robocop's glitch where OCP 're-programme' him. I'll admit that this aspect of the story was quite amusing and entertaining, but it was rather pointless and went nowhere. If the point was to show OCP as being incompetent or misguided then this was unnecessary as this was already ascertained in the first film. I just didn't see the point.
There is also a scene later in the film where Robocop discovers the kid who was one of Cain's gang dying in the back of a van; he then gives some heart felt speech and asks Robocop not to leave him.... give me a break. Were we supposed to feel sorry for the kid? Was that supposed to be a tender moment? He was almost as bad as Cain himself and was deserved of no sympathy whatsoever.
I also loved the fact that OCP intended to send Robocop 2 out to clean the streets of Nuke even though he is addicted to Nuke himself; isn't that a bit like asking a prolific drug dealer to go out and clean the streets of drugs himself?
I think one of the worst aspects of this film was the decision to turn Cain into OCP's Robocop 2; if I'm being cynical I just saw that as a plot device to set up the inevitable showdown between Robocop 2 and Robocop.
To me this film is sloppy, but it's sloppy in too many areas to make it forgivable. It does provide entertainment value and is quite amusing and I still love Robocop's 'Thank you for not smoking' line. However, it's far too stupid to be really classed as a good film or even to be considered a worthy sequel.
I've always been a fan of the original Robocop film and have seen it several times. To me it's a film that is a nice blend of social commentary, satire, intelligence, action, entertainment & heart. I hadn't seen the sequel for some time and after watching it this evening I can only say that it was partly successful...
Robocop 2 starts out in a similar vein to the first film with police officers on strike. As a result of the police being on strike, Detroit City has made a descent into lawlessness; at the start it shows individuals pillaging from each other and looting shops and convenience stores. I also liked the fact that at the start we see Robocop trying to make a connection to his past life... this for me was a big strength in the first film and is a very emotive part of the story. Sadly it isn't given much focus here which is a shame as it is a strong and interesting aspect of the Robocop story.
What really lets this film down is the story and the simple truth of the matter is that it just isn't as strong as the story in the first film; everyone is addicted to drugs? Is that all we get here? It's perhaps not necessarily the concept that's bad, but the way it's executed here with the writers not really offering much commentary on the subject. I would have forgiven this aspect of the plot more if it had been remotely interesting, but I just found it really hard to get involved with this story.
There also seemed to be pointless deviations such as Robocop's glitch where OCP 're-programme' him. I'll admit that this aspect of the story was quite amusing and entertaining, but it was rather pointless and went nowhere. If the point was to show OCP as being incompetent or misguided then this was unnecessary as this was already ascertained in the first film. I just didn't see the point.
There is also a scene later in the film where Robocop discovers the kid who was one of Cain's gang dying in the back of a van; he then gives some heart felt speech and asks Robocop not to leave him.... give me a break. Were we supposed to feel sorry for the kid? Was that supposed to be a tender moment? He was almost as bad as Cain himself and was deserved of no sympathy whatsoever.
I also loved the fact that OCP intended to send Robocop 2 out to clean the streets of Nuke even though he is addicted to Nuke himself; isn't that a bit like asking a prolific drug dealer to go out and clean the streets of drugs himself?
I think one of the worst aspects of this film was the decision to turn Cain into OCP's Robocop 2; if I'm being cynical I just saw that as a plot device to set up the inevitable showdown between Robocop 2 and Robocop.
To me this film is sloppy, but it's sloppy in too many areas to make it forgivable. It does provide entertainment value and is quite amusing and I still love Robocop's 'Thank you for not smoking' line. However, it's far too stupid to be really classed as a good film or even to be considered a worthy sequel.