by Jesus Ibarra

Special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review.

Robocop, a remake of the cult classic 1980s movie of the same name, stars Joel Kinneman as the titular hero who is turned into a cyborg to combat crime. This movie shares only two things with the original, the transformation of Joel Kinnaman’s Alex Murphy into RoboCop, and the corporation that makes him. Other than that it is a pretty good reboot of the franchise with a look at more contemporary views about technology, corporate control, and what those things mean for people and government.

As someone who remembered watching the original as a kid, I went into this movie expecting almost nothing, knowing that anything they did would have to be vastly different given how different technology and our ideas about the role of technology in society has changed since the 80s. What’s probably my favorite part of this movie is the question it raises about the human condition in the context of technology becoming more increasingly intrusive in our lives, and how much do corporations really control. The most interesting idea is when we become integrated with our technology are we still human, or were we never really human to begin with since the brain is nothing more than an organic computer that can be hacked? Do we really have free will? And how much do corporations control our lives by using marketing and psychology to get us to accept or buy things. Unfortunately, all these questions fall by the wayside by the third act, where the movie turns into your standard cop robot action flick, which isn’t bad just a bit disappointing.

Joel Kinnaman kills it as Alex Murphy, and my favorite scene in the movie is when he realizes and is shown what he has been turned into, which is very much shocking and horrifying. The action is serviceable except when they use the dumb shaky cam which does nothing but disorient you. Michael Keaton is also perfect as the head of the corporation who creates RoboCop, he is gleefully evil, which you don’t see until the end of the film when he shows his true colors. Over all, this movie would have been a fantastic film if it had tried to answer some of the great questions it raised, but in spite of the third act devolving into a typical action flick I still enjoyed it immensely and you will too.

RoboCop is playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6. Showtimes can be found on their website. Platinum Theaters Dinuba 6 now proudly presents digital quality films in 2-D and 3-D with 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound to maximize your movie experience.

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Jesus Ibarra is 21 years old; with a love of all media, he’s always on the lookout for the best finds. You can read more of his reviews on his website.