RoboCop 2

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source: RoboCop 2

RoboCop 2

Isn't it wonderful when idiots have money? Damn, I haven't something as bad as this in a long time! The camera work is shaky, close range shots, like in TV movies, no story, dialogs that don't ring true, car chases at 30 km/h. Plus there is a clumsy robot cop, 50 million in a truck with $ signs on the bag and 10 year old kingpins. When someone is shot (even children), they show blood everywhere. The cast is plain horrible, Peter Weller does the best job of them all, but he plays a robot. Ronny Cox decided not to participate in this in hope to salvage his career. After seeing Robocop 2 I actually regret giving Seagal movies 1 star ratings...

Okay now we're just being fed formula and who could blame them after the critical and financial business the original Robocop did. This sequel (beyond letting us know the people behind these movies are obviously trying to make a working franchise) tells us how hard it is to duplicate success on those rare instances where a science fiction movie breaks the mold and follow it up with something just as good or better. It's a weird trait that many sequels to successful movies succumb to, but then again, when the original does so many things right some level of disappointment or failings seem almost guaranteed. Dreary atmosphere, a workable story, sprinkles of dark humor, satisfying action pieces and some real emotion. The original had it all. It'd be a fantasy to think we were going to get this and more in a sequel. We don't. This outing finds less of the dark humor and less of Murphy's humanity as he's tasked with going up against a new underground drug taking over New Detroit. Of course, things will come to a violent head and once again it will be Robocop's prime directive to make things right. Tom Noonan, who starts as the main villain is perhaps the best and the worse. A good actor can take an underwritten part farther than it was supposed to go, but only so far. Hence a key problem. Like most drug barons, especially in movie land, the one he plays is paranoid and prone to using violence. Which means the pursuit of cliché set pieces and scenarios like an obvious showdown between him and Robocop before the end (in some form). What maybe you don't expect is when half-way through the movie, the main villainy force becomes a 14 year old successor to a drug empire. The premise is simple enough. Part man, mostly machine. He's not prone to annoyances normal human beings have to deal with like being shot, bleeding, dying... that sort of thing. He can be as detached from the world as he wants to be because let's face it, he is detached. Peter Weller reprises as Robocop. Nancy Allen is again along for the ride as his partner. OCP is still OCP. The headquarters for a faceless mega corporation built on greed. Those things haven't changed, but other more intimate story and atmosphere elements have. Robocop 2 ends up not being a horrible outing. It is still very much entertaining and in due part to memories established by the original, but give me back more of that dark trashy New Detroit atmosphere as seen in the original. Give me less throwaway action scenes, 14-year old boy villains and mediocre stop motion effects. Most of all give me back the feeling that Robocop was fresh. I know that's hard to fulfill, but at least give me a glimmer of hope.

Irvin Kershner, who also directed probably the best Star Wars film "The Empire Strikes Back", does homage to Verhoeven's directorial style in this first sequel. Apparently Frank Miller wrote the original script, but Kershner didn't use much of it, but Miller hung around anyway. We see many of the original actors return, especially in the OCP offices. The Newsbreak anchors. Also, many new faces. Who cast this? It is a veritable assembly of character actors who had been in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". The Kid from the opening Robo Drug Bust scene, "Hob" (Gabriel Damon) who taunts Robo, played opposite Michael Dorn in "The Bonding". Mark Rolston who was also in 'Aliens", was in "Eye of the Beholder" and also one episode of Star Trek Continues. Stephen Lee "Duffy" was the target of an Alien Assasin in "The Vengeance Factor". Jeff McCarthy was "Roga Danar", a supersoldier who Troi befriends. Maybe there are more TNG Alumni. Most likely, these are the actors Central Casting used back in 1990 when this was made, and we can virtually date when a film of series was made simply by the guest stars and extras. Tom Noonan, from "Manhunter", is "Cain", a guy who makes Dope that makes Dope look like a weenie roast, and he's nasty. Noonan always plays great crooks, and he eventually becomes something worse for the final act of this film. But what boggles me is that as sequels go, this isn't that bad, although not quite as good as the original. From the start is has some of the same elements that made RoboCop great. But you never know what's going to be a hit or not. This film has much of the look and feel of RoboCop, but for some reason it didn't go over. Of course there are plenty of problems and weak spots, but it is interesting to watch this in relation to the Original RoboCop and the reboot RoboCop from 2014. Again, most of this was practical effects, but in 1990 some primitive CGI was used here. If you don't get caught up in the problems with this film, it does become part of the 3-film Robo story, concluded in Robo 3 with a different actor than Weller.

I have always thought that Paul Verhoeven's first film has stood out as the best RoboCop film, I can't really remember if this sequel was that good or not. Peter Weller returns as the cybernetic cop in this quite good film where RoboCop both tries to do his job while (I think) trying to be controlled and facing his past before being a robot. I think there is a sequence where he starts telling kids to be bad, but I can remember there is a scene where his memory goes for a minute. He still has the very nice car as well. And is it me, or does his girlfriend from the first film die? Not bad, but the first was better. Worth watching!