As the modern revolution of shitty remakes had become a common sight (Total Recall, Conan the Barbarian etc.), I was reluctantly dragged along to witness what I thought would be 90 minutes of a glitzy, overdone trainwreck.
Was quite surprised to have watched a film that, while unable to match the cinematic highs of its predecessor, was still a half-decent remake. I was actually going for Alex Murphy all through the movie. No spoilers, but I enjoyed how the film makers decided to show his humanity first before muting it. Got me a little more into it, but others may disagree.
Yet the overall tone was a little too cynical for my taste. Ever since Christopher Nolan rocked up to the scene in 2005 with Batman Begins, all heroic figures thereon after have been busy exploring the tragic psyche of what it means to be a saviour. Since the original's appeal did rely somewhat on its 80s black comedy, the remake's lack of it did bring it down a notch or two. Although I understand that young audiences might not connect with the film if it were styled in 80s camp, I do feel a little nostalgic.
However, the special effects are quite impressive and will look great in HD, so I'm still keen on the release on DVD. Will actually purchase, not pirate.
Big fan of Joel Kinnaman ever since The Killing, so I was interested to see how he would do Alex Murphy. I know Kinnaman's a great actor because of his other work, and he did a decent job with this monumental role. Although I didn't feel as if he was irreplaceable as the RoboCop, the acting was good enough to guide the film.
Gary Oldman is always great. He will never not fit into a movie because he's just too good. Go you, Gary.
6.5/10 - Better than I expected.
As the modern revolution of shitty remakes had become a common sight (Total Recall, Conan the Barbarian etc.), I was reluctantly dragged along to witness what I thought would be 90 minutes of a glitzy, overdone trainwreck.
Was quite surprised to have watched a film that, while unable to match the cinematic highs of its predecessor, was still a half-decent remake. I was actually going for Alex Murphy all through the movie. No spoilers, but I enjoyed how the film makers decided to show his humanity first before muting it. Got me a little more into it, but others may disagree.
Yet the overall tone was a little too cynical for my taste. Ever since Christopher Nolan rocked up to the scene in 2005 with Batman Begins, all heroic figures thereon after have been busy exploring the tragic psyche of what it means to be a saviour. Since the original's appeal did rely somewhat on its 80s black comedy, the remake's lack of it did bring it down a notch or two. Although I understand that young audiences might not connect with the film if it were styled in 80s camp, I do feel a little nostalgic.
However, the special effects are quite impressive and will look great in HD, so I'm still keen on the release on DVD. Will actually purchase, not pirate.
Big fan of Joel Kinnaman ever since The Killing, so I was interested to see how he would do Alex Murphy. I know Kinnaman's a great actor because of his other work, and he did a decent job with this monumental role. Although I didn't feel as if he was irreplaceable as the RoboCop, the acting was good enough to guide the film.
Gary Oldman is always great. He will never not fit into a movie because he's just too good. Go you, Gary.