Android Cop

If you're familiar at all with The Asylum, you pretty much already know what you're in for. That said, for The Asylum, this isn't bad. Don't mistake that for "good," though. But you could do worse.

The effects could be better, but they aren't completely terrible. The biggest letdown of the film is the under-utilization of Michael Jai White's martial arts skills. It's in there, but not as much as it could or should have been. Too many camera cuts.

This is a low budget film. It rides the coat tails of Robocop, and has the slight essence of the TV show Almost Human - without being a rehash of either. So don't expect either. Pleasantly surprising coming from The Asylum. Definitely one of their better films.

45 minutes worth of script expanded to a 90 minute movie makes this for a pretty dull ride for the most part, often moving at a snails pace.

I like Michael Jai White and think that he's a good action-star but he doesn't always have the best luck with the quality of movies he get to do, and this is without a doubt the worst movie I've seen him in.

It's basically a rip off of Robocop, but I didn't really expect much else, I did expect to be at least somewhat entertained (even if part of the entertainment would most likely be for the 'wrong reasons') but even that did not ring true.

Michael Jai White feels uninspired but his natural charisma brings the rating up one notch without even trying.

It makes some attempt at adding the occasional joke here and there to lighten the mood from the 'serious tone' of the movie but the comedic timing is so off that it gets more cringe-worthy than anything else.

Also offers one of the most predictable twists in the end that I've seen in a long long time.

Acting: 3/10, Productionvalue: 2/10, Script: 1/10

'Android Cop' is the progeny of 'Lethal Weapon' and 'RoboCop' on a budget. There's a little more plot structure than usual, and the script is half-decent even if some of the acting is decidedly half-baked.

Good to see former Australian rugby league player Ian Roberts in a minor supporting role as a radiation-infected kingpin of the wasteland (which look like some current public housing districts), and then more prominently, Kadeem Hardison as an LA police officer who along with star Michael Jai White must venture into the quarantine zone where crime is running rampant.

Like many other Asylum pictures, the studio backlots, industrial warehouses and urban alleyways provide unlimited sets depicting 'futuristic' scenery (traffic is clearly visible in some shots) and what those ubiquitous locations can't deliver, amateurish CGI takes care of the rest.

Mediocre mockbuster, with reasonable fight choreography and reasonably assured performances by White, Hardison and Dutton (although Wayne as the titular cyborg is comically wooden), 'Android Cop' is a passable buddy picture that's not great , but not as awful as it could've been under the circumstances.

It was quite the experience! This film has a blend of bad action and sci-fi that feels like a throwback to classic buddy cop flicks but with a futuristic twist (basically a Robocop ripoff). The story follows a tough cop partnered with an android in a gritty, crime-ridden city. The chemistry between the two leads is quite entertaining, and their banter brings some humor to the otherwise heavy themes, but overall the story is just dumb. The plot is extremely predictable and the special effects are even worse. At least the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, which allows the viewer to not be constantly bored by overwhelming pretentiousness, like it usually happens in bad sci-fi flick. At least this movie is self aware.

First off, this IS a budget movie, with budget movie production values. Second, taking that into account, it's not so bad. I've seen many many films with way bigger budgets that were FAR worse. I don't recall any Blaxploitation film being made with high production values, though this is definitely a B-movie. It is called Android Cop, and the android part doesn't take over. Good use of future technology to drive the story.

Acting; reasonably good throughout, with a few exceptions. C S Dutton as the mayor is very good. Not such a big role, but what he does he does well. The main protagonists are somewhat hampered by the characters they have to play, but they manage it well enough.

Action; in parts it suffers from the 'many bullets' syndrome of so many Hollywood films. Hundreds of bullets are sprayed from endless ammo guns, and hardly any damage. Oh well, seen that a thousand times.

Photography; for such a low budget film, in parts some of the angles and editing are quite gripping. Only a couple of times did I find myself really criticising the angles, timing of cuts etc.

Dialogue; well, I burst out laughing a couple of times. Genuinely funny. It's not very moving, but it's not saccharine either. Again, only a couple of times did I think the lines were lame.

Story; nothing new, but well delivered. Twists and turns in the right places and nicely paced.

Overall, I didn't think I had wasted my time.