RoboCop

The 80's movie superhero has returned.

This new RoboCop, from director José Padilha, replaces the bleak satire of Paul Verhoeven's original blockbuster with more "grounded" super-heroics. It's a different entity, but this new one is still worth it.

In the somewhat distant future, the US Military patrols the world with its drone army supplied by the diabolical OmniCorp. But a Senate Bill prevents the drone army from coming to the homefront. OmniCorp CEO Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) decides to get around it by making a cyborg warrior. After all, that would make it somewhat human.

Detroit Officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) discovers corruption within his bureau. He's then blown up by a car bomb from the crooked cops. Dr. Norton (Gary Oldman) of OmniCorp rebuilds Murphy into the company's new crime-fighting cyborg. "RoboCop" proves so good at his job that the pesky Senate Bill's days might be numbered. But Murphy becomes a liability to OmniCorp when he decides to investigate the incident that changed him.

I must emphasize again that this is a different entity than the 1987 movie. And never is this difference more obvious than the eponymous character's suit, which goes from the original film's silver-and-white color scheme to an all-black one. It may take some time to get used to the latter suit colors; still, they look great in the film's nighttime scenes. A few fans may be happy to know that the original colors aren't forgotten about by the end.

Like the original film, this new one does take aim at today's most political topics. This is mainly done in the show-within-the-show, "The Novak Element," whose host is played by Samuel L. Jackson. Amongst the highlights: "Illegal American Immigrants in Mexico." Jackson, as Novak, is entertaining, even if his character is unhinged.

There's plenty of good visual effects to speak of. Among them include the CGI update of the original "ED-209," whose movement might satisfy those who found the original's stop-motion too lackluster. Another good, yet shocking effect, was the reveal of what's just underneath Murphy's suit (not much). More optimistically, the film's use of holographic flashbacks was great. They're amazing for a film from so early this year.

RoboCop may be different from the original; but then again, a beat-by-beat take on the original would have been pointless. For what it's trying to be, this new Robo greatly succeeds. Only time will tell if it will be as respected as its cult classic originator.