This review is written assuming you've already seen Robocop (1987) and Robocop 2 (1990). If not, don't proceed until you see those first:
Robocop 3 (1992) picks an unknown number of years after the events of part 2, Cain's gang and his Nuke Drug has been obliterated and Robocain has been defeated by our hero. The Old Man from the previous two films is gone (either died or resigned after the events of Robocop 2; the movie doesn't say) and is replaced by the "CEO" (Rip Torn). The Delta City Project inaugurated in the previous film is falling behind schedule and OCP incurs in debt, leading to its takeover by the Japanese corp. of Kanemitsu. Meanwhile, they adopt increasingly forceful methods to get back on track by hiring mercenaries called "the Rehabs" led by Robert McDagget (John Castle) to evacuate areas for demolition and send the locals to "correctional facilities". A band of freedom fighters spring up, Robocop and Anne Lewis track them down after seeing a little girl joining them in an abandoned church. Unbeknowst to them, the Rehabs have tracked them down, and orders them to leave the building to them. Robocop and Anne Lewis refuse, but when Anne gets seriously injured (and dies a few minutes later), he quits the force and joins the rebellion, while undergoing structural repairs in his programme.
Robocop 2 may have shocked some viewers for its excessive violence, but it is better than this one. The storyline is more coherent than the last film in the sense that all main ideas make it to the end but it's too simplistic. While Part 2 was ultra-violent and gloomy, this one went into the opposite direction. Sure the absence of the first two films' graphic violence would make it more appealing for kids, but this movie just has little to make up for it; it starts off very promising but it gets sillier as the it progresses, culminating in a ridiculous fight between Robocop and the Samurai, which is a far cry from the excellent finale between Robocop and Robocain in the the second movie, giving the impression that the filmmakers have run out of money by that point.
However, Robocop 3 still has some worthwhile moments to spare it from becoming a candidate for MST3K. Most of the action sequences save the aforementioned fight are well-staged and creative, and the film has some creative use of CGI. Robocop's new gadgets-- the jet-pack and his cannon-- are worthy additions, and our hero still knows how to make an entrance (diving from the highest level of a parking lot and dropping down 10 storeys below).
Peter Weller, however, did not reprise the role, most likely because he has grown tired of having to walk into that baggy costume for hours and hours on end and sweating buckets in the process, and he's replaced by Robert John Burke. Burke is a worthy successor to Weller, mimicking his movements down to the smallest details, but it just doesn't feel the same without him.
Bottom line: Robocop 3 is the worst of the series, but it's not as terrible as some people tend to exaggerate.
Trivia: the beautiful Jill Hennessy appears here as Robocop's leading programmer just before becoming famous as Kincaid in "Law and Order" and later in "Crossing Jordan".
Robocop 3 (1992) picks an unknown number of years after the events of part 2, Cain's gang and his Nuke Drug has been obliterated and Robocain has been defeated by our hero. The Old Man from the previous two films is gone (either died or resigned after the events of Robocop 2; the movie doesn't say) and is replaced by the "CEO" (Rip Torn). The Delta City Project inaugurated in the previous film is falling behind schedule and OCP incurs in debt, leading to its takeover by the Japanese corp. of Kanemitsu. Meanwhile, they adopt increasingly forceful methods to get back on track by hiring mercenaries called "the Rehabs" led by Robert McDagget (John Castle) to evacuate areas for demolition and send the locals to "correctional facilities". A band of freedom fighters spring up, Robocop and Anne Lewis track them down after seeing a little girl joining them in an abandoned church. Unbeknowst to them, the Rehabs have tracked them down, and orders them to leave the building to them. Robocop and Anne Lewis refuse, but when Anne gets seriously injured (and dies a few minutes later), he quits the force and joins the rebellion, while undergoing structural repairs in his programme.
Robocop 2 may have shocked some viewers for its excessive violence, but it is better than this one. The storyline is more coherent than the last film in the sense that all main ideas make it to the end but it's too simplistic. While Part 2 was ultra-violent and gloomy, this one went into the opposite direction. Sure the absence of the first two films' graphic violence would make it more appealing for kids, but this movie just has little to make up for it; it starts off very promising but it gets sillier as the it progresses, culminating in a ridiculous fight between Robocop and the Samurai, which is a far cry from the excellent finale between Robocop and Robocain in the the second movie, giving the impression that the filmmakers have run out of money by that point.
However, Robocop 3 still has some worthwhile moments to spare it from becoming a candidate for MST3K. Most of the action sequences save the aforementioned fight are well-staged and creative, and the film has some creative use of CGI. Robocop's new gadgets-- the jet-pack and his cannon-- are worthy additions, and our hero still knows how to make an entrance (diving from the highest level of a parking lot and dropping down 10 storeys below).
Peter Weller, however, did not reprise the role, most likely because he has grown tired of having to walk into that baggy costume for hours and hours on end and sweating buckets in the process, and he's replaced by Robert John Burke. Burke is a worthy successor to Weller, mimicking his movements down to the smallest details, but it just doesn't feel the same without him.
Bottom line: Robocop 3 is the worst of the series, but it's not as terrible as some people tend to exaggerate.
Trivia: the beautiful Jill Hennessy appears here as Robocop's leading programmer just before becoming famous as Kincaid in "Law and Order" and later in "Crossing Jordan".
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