By Matt Aspin /
Like it or loathe it the Hollywood reboot machine is alive and well and this time it's the turn of Robocop. Almost 16 years after the original movie blasted its way on to the big screen the first trailer for José Padilha's brave re imagining was met with the usual chorus of complaints from fans lamenting the decision to resurrect one of the all time great science fiction heroes for a new generation. Starring relative unknown Joel Kinnaman in the role made famous by Peter Weller, Robocop 2014 sees all round good guy and straight laced cop Alex Murphy severely injured in the line of duty and harvested for parts to become Robocop the so-called future of law enforcement. Whether you've taken to the internet to voice your opinion of the new 'black suited' Robocop or not you have to admit that no matter how badly the franchise may or may not have been handled yet you only have to look back at the long history of the character on screen to see that with the exception of the first 2 movies this wouldn't be the first time Hollywood has thrown Robocop to the wolves. In fact the reboot would have to be pretty horrendous to come anywhere close to the appalling efforts of 1993's second sequel or the live action TV series that pretty much sucked any remaining cool from the series and deposited it in the proverbial toilet. So with that in mind let's take a look back over the 16 year history of Robocop and how the character made so famous in Paul Verhoeven's 1987 classic has fallen so spectacularly from grace. Will the reboot be Robocop's salvation? We'll all find out when it hits cinema's in February of next year.