RoboCop 2

There was no way this was ever going to be as good as Robocop but they could have done so much better. What's really missing is Basil Poledouris' wonderful fanfare theme tune. In its place we are giving some appalling brass'n'percussion with a chorus singing a ridiculous 'Robocop' theme on top. It's amazing how much music can change a film, and really, a decent score would have improved the film immensely.

Also, Rob Bottin's ultra-violent effects were sadly missed. The film is full of violence but it's mainly of the long-range bullets-hit-bad-guys type: the only thing close to the original's over-the-top nature was the brain removal and the stomach-slicing.

Phil Tippett is on hand, luckily, to deliver some entertaining stop-motion action scenes which really liven up the final scenes of carnage.

Sadly, the bad guys never come across as meanly as Clarence Boddicker did in the first, OCP seem unnecessarily annoying and the little kid is just annoying. It's not a TERRIBLE film but we really could have expected more from the man who brought us 'The Empire Strikes Back'.

I don't know why this sequel has such a bad rep, it's certainly better than "Robocop 3" (which has its moments, but is still sub-par in many ways), or the syndicated television series. How can you go wrong with a script by Frank Miller (comic book writer/artist responsible for "The Dark Knight Returns" and many years on Marvel's "Daredevil") and the director of "The Empire Strikes Back?" In my book, "R2" picks up exactly where the original left off, with more action, better character development, and maintains the sly sense of humor of the first film. Some of the stop-motion special effects look a little aged now (at least on my VHS copy; I haven't upgraded this one to DVD yet) but if you can get past that "R2" is enjoyable for action freaks.

I kid you not. If you want a hearty laugh, stick around as the end credits roll and listen to the full Robocop themesong which has about 2.5 minutes of people singing ROBO-COPPPPP!!! Fine, you say, maybe this is a tongue-in-cheek satire like the 60s Batman tv show? Not quite. This flick takes itself pretty seriously, which is where it fails.

Aside from some awesome campy tv news and commercial cutaways, exactly as in the original, this installment of Robocop lacks the cheeky wit and dark humor of its predecessor. Also gone are the characteristic, personable (lovable?) villains and the deep sociopolitical skewering that made the first Robo a timeless classic. Instead here we get a straightforward plot based bang-em-up showcase which can be entertaining in its own right, but it's not a true Robocop experience. The most noticeable failure is that the bad guys are entirely cardboard: a mysterious but never fleshed out messiah character, a little kid who is wonderfully cold-hearted at first but his character turns sappy, and a ditzy tagalong who is a groan worthy stereotype of the 80s token female sidekick, right down to the hysterical crying (yes I'm describing one of the villains).

Peter Weller does a great job within his limitations, but here the script really kneecapped him. It gave Weller a few promising themes of emotional conflict but barely a taste before moving on, never a good central theme for Weller and the audience to grasp. A dozen appetizers but no main course. Similarly, the story itself is a pastiche of episodic subplots which introduce themselves and are quickly resolved before moving on to the next. For example, the intriguing subplot of Robo stalking his widow is introduced at the outset but hastily resolved and never revisited. 5 minutes, move on. The excellent subplot of Robo being reprogrammed--literally his personality changed--by the corporate suits is really powerful but also hastily resolved and never touched again. 5 minutes, move on. The result is a sort of Readers Digest version of a complete film, with good bits to whet our appetite but without giving us a full course. Watch it if you just want to see a vanilla 80s action flick, but that's all it really offers.

In closing... *sings* ROBO--COPPP!! ROBOOOO--COPPPP!!!! ROOOOBOOOO--aw stuff a sock innit already.

RoboCop 2 follows RoboCop as he attempts to tackle the growing threat of the drug 'Nuke' on the streets of Detroit, along with the mysterious drug lord Cane, who is pushing its distribution. Alongside that we also have the mega company OCP, who are attempting to privatise the city, and to do this they decide to make a new RoboCop to earn public trust. Thing is, all the attempts fail... until OCP's Dr Faxx decides the best person to use in the project is none other than Cane himself...

This follow up to the amazing RoboCop didn't sit too well with critics at the time, but I enjoyed it. It maintains the gritty atmosphere of it's predecessor, along with some of the satirical comedy. The new RoboCop is a formiddable foe... and bizarre child psychopaths aside the film manages to entertain with some pretty good action scenes and decent effects. The only issues really are that in many ways it feels like a retread of the first film, and there is barely any delving into RoboCop's human side - aside from a strange scene where he stalks the Murphy family home... but then that doesn't really amount to anything. There is also a section where RoboCop becomes reprogrammed into a pacifist, that is frankly hilarious. Overall it's a decent film and worth a look, but it's not as good as the original.

Whoever thought that Irvin Kershner (nice bloke/mediocre director) would be the right person to take over the reins of the Robocop franchise from Paul Verhoeven (enfant terrible/movie maverick) should be made to explain themselves to a malfunctioning ED-209 ("You have 20 seconds to justify your decision... 15 seconds... 10 seconds.... BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!"): although Kershner proved himself capable of putting together a slick, family-friendly sci-fi sequel with The Empire Strikes Back, he's clearly way out of his depth when dealing with the kind of gritty, über-violent, and wickedly satirical content that is second nature for Hollywood bad-boy Verhoeven.

As one might expect, there are lots of explosions, gunfire, bloody bullet hits, and special effects on show, but Kirshner plays it all way too safe, displaying none of the excess or imagination that made the first film such an incredible experience. When you factor in a surprisingly poor script from comic geek favourite Frank Miller, an uninspired performance from star Peter Weller that feels more like contractual obligation rather than a genuine yearning to reprise the role, a forgettable main bad guy in the form of Tom Noonan (with a bloody kid as his sidekick!), and some weak attempts at mimicking the original's wry humour, what you have is a sequel that just about satisfies on the most basic of levels (it's got guns and robots and Nancy Allen), but can only be seen as a disappointment when compared to its predecessor.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.