Well, here it is… After endless speculation and just as many snarky, internet-based remarks, the trailer for the remake of Paul Verhoeven‘s satirical masterpiece “RoboCop” is here. And it’s… something, alright.
The remake was mounted by Jose Padilha, the director for “Elite Squad” and “Elite Squad II,” and features “Killing” star Joel Kinnaman as the cybernetically enhanced crime fighter. The movie costars Michael Keaton as one of RoboCop’s designers, Gary Oldman as one of the doctors responsible for bringing him back to life, Abbie Cornish as the love interest and Samuel L. Jackson as some kind of shadowy figure. The action is fast and furious and it looks like Padilha has brought some of the earthy grittiness from his previous films to the “RoboCop” universe, creating a universe choked with crime and calling out for some kind of robotically-enhanced assistance.
“The thing that distinguishes ‘Robocop‘ from most superhero movies is if you look at a movie like “Spider-Man” or “Iron Man,” every kid wants to be Spider-Man or aspires to be Iron Man,” Padilha said in a just-published interview with the LA Times. “So you can make a movie—and those movies are great and fun—based on that. … You don’t want to be Frankenstein. You don’t want to be Robocop. But Robocop embodies a philosophical idea and a political idea. It talks about fascism.” Yay! You know how much mainstream audiences love overt political discussion!
While some of the new flourishes teased in the trailer don’t completely work (we’re not certain about him being able to show his face at will), it looks like a fairly convincing world. And we’ve got to admit, the new ED-209 looks pretty fucking cool.
“RoboCop” will be released on February 7th, 2014. Dead or alive, we’ll be there.[HeroComplex/Apple/CBM]
