ironhorse_iv Review of RoboCop 3

RoboCop 3 (1993)

I know a lot of people hate this movie, but honestly I would buy Robocop 3 for a dollar even with its flaws!

[4/10 · 16 January 2020]

All I need is 20 seconds to comply. This American cyberpunk action superhero film written by Frank Miller of comic book fame & directed by Fred Dekker is a guilty pleasure of mine! Set in the dystopian future of Detroit, Michigan, the plot centers around RoboCop (Robert John Burke) trying to save the city from falling into the hands of a corrupt armed force created by his creator company OCP called the Urban Rehabilitators under the command of Paul McDaggett (John Castle). Without this 1993 film too much, this third movie in the 'RoboCop' franchise was a tepid attempt to make future installments in the series more family oriented by aiming for a PG-13 rating. While, I know a lot of people hate that Orion Pictures did that. They need to understand why they did it. The majority of the fan base were primarily children who readt the comics. So it make sense to market it to them as Orion was having financial problems. Plus there was a TV Show in the works so they needed all the eyes that they can get. Although the move seem likely to succeed. Sadly the movie bomb at the box office as it face tough competition from other children target movies like 'The Nightmare before Christmas' that debut one week earlier. To make it worst, Miller upon finding out that his script was yet again heavily altered from what he originally wrote; abandoned the film & swore off Hollywood for a very long time until 2005 'Sin City' was in production. Despite that the motion picture still maintain many of the comic book writer's dark ideas such as corporation funded militarizing of the cops forcibly relocate residents into camps without the ridiculously trashy, bleak and mean spirited nature. However the gritty foul language of the piece was cut down to cheesy insults that doesn't sound like it should be coming out of the mouths of criminals. Regardless of that, I was glad that some of Miller's edgy satire Meta humor toward the media & commercialism is still there and uphold the same style from the first two films without the overused of gratuitous T&A. Women are lot more respected here even if female characters like police officer Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) isn't given much of anything to do besides being the key that drives Murphy to seek revenge. At least they made diversity female characters like Bertha (CCH Pounder) into a somewhat of a badass and made Dr. Marie Lazarus (Jill Hennessy) into somewhat of a heroine. As for Remy Ryan as Nikko Halloran. She does seem like annoying John Conner Terminator 2 unrealistic hacker rip off and perhaps the most extreme example of a studio trying to get children to see the movie. Nothing against the actress, but I found her character to be shallow and stereotypical. The villains were a mixed bag as well. Rip Torn replacing the old man played by Dan O'Herlihy in the last two movies didn't really add anything nor was his absence explained. Plus the whole stereotypical Japanese company meager felt too cartoony for my taste. To add onto that, I really hate the snail paced duel with the Japanese robot Otomo (Bruce Locke). It was awkwardly done. That action scene could had been done better like 'Ghost in the Shell' style. If anything John Castle was perhaps the best one of them all. I love that lowrider car chase with his character. As for Robo Cop, it's kinda sad that Peter Weller didn't return to play the titular protagonist. Robert John Burke played him pretty robotic bland despite the character gaining most of his past personality from the last two movies. Did I miss something here? Did he get his memories erased yet again before this film started because direction 4 is also back? It's never explained much like how the residents can't hear the giant wrecking ball about to hit their houses in the opening. Despite that the majority of the action scene with him were alright. This include the street battles between the police and the Rehabs. It was somewhat cool to watch even the jetpack flying climax was a bit disappointing because how fake looking the green screen flying was. I love the ridiculous funny moments as well like RoboCop's car breaking through and jumping from concrete parking lot. Follow up with him shooting the roof of his car to get out and got roasted by Molotov cocktails. It's so over the top. I was laughing my head off, much in the same way he plow through the broken elevator door later on or get a pimp car totaled. It's has that it's so bad, it's good vibe. Despite me liking the movie, I do have to agree with Miller that the film was a fire hydrant and a row of dogs did urine on it. Regardless we can all agree that the music is always great to listen to. I'm so glad to see original composer Basil Poledouris returned to do this film. He brought back many of the recurring music that were missing from the second flick. Overall: While 'RoboCop 3' is indeed the most terrible movies from the franchise even worse than the 2014 remake. It's far from being totally forgettable. There is plenty of things in the film worth watching. In short while I can't recommended viewing for all viewers. For those diehard fans that love to collect them all. Dead or alive; its DVD is still coming home with me.