Robocop is back and has been tweaked for a new generation
José Padilha’s remake of Robocop could be considered a mixed bag since it was initially announced. Early reactions of “why” and “really?” were inevitable, and as intriguing casting announcements popped up here and there it created a spark of “hmmm, maybe”. Joel Kinnaman in the main role? Samuel L. Jackson? Gary Oldman? Michael Keaton? Wait, a strange, sleeker suit? For every up there was an apparent down, and it’s been hard to take the remake’s temperature.
The first trailer for the film is now online, and it only continues the message of a mixed bag. Check it out for yourself after the jump!
The violence seems to be toned down considerably (as far as we can tell from the trailer), and replacing Alex Murphy’s psychotically remorseless original killing with a simple explosion is….strange for some reason. That said, it’s expected when an R rating is replaced with a PG-13, and there are still other elements in the trailer that look promising. What do you think?
Here’s an official synopsis for the film:
In RoboCop, the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years – and it’s meant billions for OmniCorp’s bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice.
Robocop stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish, Jay Baruchel, Jackie Earle Haley, and Michael K. Williams. It’s set to hit theaters February 7th, 2014.
images courtesy of LA TIMES