Rebel Angel Reviews

This is the Rebel Angel, bringing you the best of heaven and the worst of hell. This will be my first ever review here on Hubpages, so please, be gentle with me.

RoboCop, one of my favorite movies growing up. I loved Peter Weller, I loved the ED-209, I loved the Auto-9. But, that's not the RoboCop I'm talking about. I'm talking about the recent 2014 Reboot. Yes, REBOOT, not REMAKE. Previous reviews say it was bad, but me? I actually liked the movie! I recieved this film on DVD on my birthday, and enjoyed it immensely. So, time for a brief synopsis of the plot, and please bear in mind, there will be spoilers.

The movie begins with a Fox News like program, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, but don't expect most of his usual swearing. He's basically an advocate for creating an automated police force to keep humanity safe, and even has footage from a middle eastern country to prove his point. Here we're introduced to Jackie Earl Hayes' character, basically a hardened army guy who prefers robots to humans when it comes to combat.

One suicide bombing by people hired by Jackie later, and we cut to our main character, Alex Murphy, played by Joel Kinneman, who I think did a great job. He's been on the trail of a crime boss, but is unable to continue pursuing, due to a corrupt police force, as you do. Meanwhile, Michael Keaton's character, the head of OCP, is planning a way to work around the Dreyfus Act, which prohibits drones from working in active duty in America. They can't use a full machine, so what do they do? USE A MAN WITHIN A MACHINE.

One carbombing later, and Alex is now rebuilt as the RC-2000, or RoboCop as fans call him. He fails preliminary tests due to his human hesitance, so the scientist, played by Gary Oldman, makes it so that when the visor comes down, the combat computer takes over, and gives him the illusion of free will. Finally the day comes for his debut, but when downloading all the crime files, he seems to have a problem seeing his own death, as he begins malfunctioning, so they lower his dopamine, and make him emotionless and efficient. Soon, the Dreyfus act is close to repealment, but Keaton and Hayes decide that RoboCop may have served his purpose.

During the third act of the movie, RoboCop begins investigating his death, and takes down the big crime boss, finds out the chief AND the cops who were on the case before were the ones who caused Alex's untimely demise. But before he can truely bring them to justice, Keaton and Hayes pull the plug on him.

Oldman saves Robo however, and soon, it's time for the final conflict, where Robo not only has to face a horde of ED-209, and EM-208s, but Hayes' character as well. And of course, it's not RoboCop without a nod to Directive 4, in this case the "Red Asset." This means Robo can't harm Hayes... but hey, that doesn't mean his partner can't. Soon, Robo makes it to Keaton, and is prepared to take him down, but of course, Keaton is also a Red Asset. But in the ultimate act of humanity winning against machinery, he goes against his programming and SHOOTS.

And so our movie ends with Robo reunited with his family, Jackson cursing Oldman and Senator Dreyfus... and hopes of a sequel.

So, how was it? While not perfect, it was a great movie in my opinion.

Pros:

• The effects were brilliant.
• The redesign of ED-209 was beautiful.
• Joel Kinneman's acting as Murphy and RoboCop was top notch, specifically in the scenes where he learned he was no longer human.
• The final moment when he breaks his programming.
• The occasional nods to the original.

Cons:

• RoboCop really isn't suited for PG-13.
• Replacing Anne Murphy with Jack Murphy.
• No use of the Auto-9.

All in all? 4 out of 5 stars. It definitely has a spot in the Heaven scale. I'm Rebel Angel, and I'll see ya next time!