When you think of the original Robocop perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is the 80's. It's a film of excess, drug abuse, open criminality, violence, gun and gang proliferation and an ineffective law enforcement owned by a private corporation. These themes and plot points were of the zeitgeist and in a way still are, but with a more nuanced view. Now we know that corporations don't run the cops, the politicians do, it's just that the corporations run the politicians. Paul Verhoeven's movie was in your face, brash, bold and fun. Everything that embodies the 80's. This new film is perhaps more sedate but allows itself to explore the psychological, human elements of the story. To reboot a classic properly requires making that same story relevant to the time in which the new film is made. We live in a media savvy world where everything is packaged, processed and made fit for consumption. The original Media Break team were instantly recognisable as any 80's anchor team, the new media though is far more insidious. Pat Novak is the very essence of Fox news and other, opinion based, so-called news channels. Opinion is presented as fact and facts are twisted to fit opinion. The whole mood of a nation is manipulated and changed through well-chosen snippets of footage or information, or by cutting off arguments that don't fit with the view of the channel. This is not just in the film, this is on your TV every day. The issues of drone warfare, artificial intelligence, personal responsibility, and, most importantly, consciousness are explored in this film to varying degrees but rather than ram them down your throat they are allowed to ruminate in your mind. Some may say that they are glossed over but this is a film that asks questions, not answers them. We see Robocop initially created in a Chinese lab, presumably because US laws would have forbade such actions, but even in 2028 the suggestion is that everything is made in China. Is it not a sad indictment of how far the mighty have fallen that their own saviour can't have a Made in the USA stamp?
I.T. Consultant, technophile and Doctor Who fan. I like to talk about tech, take films apart and make excuses for Doctor Who's continuity errors. No other show has the power to make me feel like a big kid.
