Well, this is likely to put things in perspective for a lot of folks. The comparisons of this remake to the original are unavoidable and I think after seeing this clip many will make up their minds on how they feel about the new version. Granted, it's only 70 seconds of the film, but it tells a lot in terms of attitude, style, and tone. I'll save my thoughts for after the clip. In the meantime, take a gander at director Jose Padilha's rendition of ROBOCOP.
Take a look:
Here's the synopsis:
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.
So, it looks to me like this is definitely a more playful, action-centric flick. While the original had those elements as well, it also never had contemporary rock music playing under any of the sequences to enhance your enjoyment of it. This is definitely a different direction for the series, which I think was the point from the beginning. This will probably play well to the younger generation, while the grizzled movie grumps like me will remain pessimistic. That said, I'm still open to checking this out if it turns out to be something more than just a PG-13 ROBOCOP-lite.
ROBOCOP opens on February 12, 2014.