Before this film's release fans must have been in a whirlwind of excitement. The director of Empire Strikes Back (widely regarded as one of the top sequels ever made) and the writer of The Dark Knight Returns teaming up for RoboCop. At first glance Miller seems like an ideal choice. DKR is brimming with social satire and the news broadcasts that infuse that comic are eerily similar to the Media Break segments in the first film. And maybe Miller was a great choice. We'll never really know since only fragments of his story were worked into the final script.
RoboCop 2 is vastly inferior to the original but it's not the train wreck a lot of people make it out to be either. It's a movie bursting at the seams with wasted potential. They had an interesting subplot with Murphy's widow, a charismatic villain, and OCP stealing the city right from under the Mayor's nose. All interesting subplots that are never given any development or payoff. The film doesn't even really have a coherent story. It darts off in so many directions and ends up feeling like a mish mash of their favorite moments from all the different drafts. OCP refusing to bring RoboCop back online, his eventual re-programming, and even the third act introduction of RoboCop 2... these are all elements slapped together and none of them has a chance to evolve or resonate.
Kershner is a competent filmmaker. Some of the scenes are incredibly well done: RoboCop's dismantling, Cain's assault on his former gang and the mayor, the last moment between Robo and the kid... but I'm not sure he was a great choice. 95% of the film takes place in daylight and everything seems so bright, shiny, and unthreatening. It looks like the film was made for a fraction of the cost of the original but that's not the case. How can the production value seem so low? Where did the money go? Robo's absent for a twenty minute stretch of time. Lewis & Reed are barely cameos. The Old Man is suddenly a vicious antagonist. The cops inexplicably end their strike and risk their lives to help Robo get revenge. But one of the biggest offenses is the score. Not only did Basil Poledouris not return, but none of his themes were used either. His RoboCop theme is iconic. This is like Superman without John Williams. The music is too hokey and chipper and the end credits overture borders on ridiculous (a choir chants "RoboCop!").
Perhaps the flaws wouldn't seem as glaring if there wasn't the amazing first film to compare this to. It's certainly not one of the worst movies I've ever seen. And it's certainly not as bad as the next sequel. But it ain't the original. Not by a long shot.
RoboCop 2 is vastly inferior to the original but it's not the train wreck a lot of people make it out to be either. It's a movie bursting at the seams with wasted potential. They had an interesting subplot with Murphy's widow, a charismatic villain, and OCP stealing the city right from under the Mayor's nose. All interesting subplots that are never given any development or payoff. The film doesn't even really have a coherent story. It darts off in so many directions and ends up feeling like a mish mash of their favorite moments from all the different drafts. OCP refusing to bring RoboCop back online, his eventual re-programming, and even the third act introduction of RoboCop 2... these are all elements slapped together and none of them has a chance to evolve or resonate.
Kershner is a competent filmmaker. Some of the scenes are incredibly well done: RoboCop's dismantling, Cain's assault on his former gang and the mayor, the last moment between Robo and the kid... but I'm not sure he was a great choice. 95% of the film takes place in daylight and everything seems so bright, shiny, and unthreatening. It looks like the film was made for a fraction of the cost of the original but that's not the case. How can the production value seem so low? Where did the money go? Robo's absent for a twenty minute stretch of time. Lewis & Reed are barely cameos. The Old Man is suddenly a vicious antagonist. The cops inexplicably end their strike and risk their lives to help Robo get revenge. But one of the biggest offenses is the score. Not only did Basil Poledouris not return, but none of his themes were used either. His RoboCop theme is iconic. This is like Superman without John Williams. The music is too hokey and chipper and the end credits overture borders on ridiculous (a choir chants "RoboCop!").
Perhaps the flaws wouldn't seem as glaring if there wasn't the amazing first film to compare this to. It's certainly not one of the worst movies I've ever seen. And it's certainly not as bad as the next sequel. But it ain't the original. Not by a long shot.