[7] part sequel, part remake, all
action; Robocop 2 is superbly-engineered comicbook-styled
entertainment, that more than makes up for it's lack of originality
with wall-to-wall violence and relentless pacing. The Detroit police
force is on strike (again!) and social order is breaking down as
gangs of murderous thieves roam the streets thoroughly freaked out
on the highly addictive drug "Nuke". Only our heavy metal hero
(Weller, back in armour) is still on duty to splatter
gangsters over the sidewalks but when he tackles Cain, the man
behind Nuke, the cybernetic Murphy is reduced to a pile of rubble.
OCP initiate a program to create Robocop Mk. 2 but after Cain gets
his come-uppance from a rebuilt Murphy, his brain is transplanted
into the new creature which proceeds to go on the rampage.
A dazzling visual treat for action movie fans with some brilliant
effects by Phil Tippett and Rob Bottin. The screenplay by Frank
Miller & Walon Green is crammed full of movie references
(Frankenstein to King Kong) and comic culture themes. There are
faults: the characters are mere cyphers and some of the illogical
events, where commonsense is abandoned for the sake of narrative
expediency and superheroic vigour, do tend to be a little
distracting. It lacks any of the humanist concerns of Verhoeven's
original, replacing that film's erudite sub-text with the
unsophisticated nature of pulp adventure. Excellent as graphic
actioners go, but negligible as science-fiction. (TL)
9/10