Action/Crime/Sci-Fi
1 hour and 57 minutes
Rated: R
Written by: Frank Miller & Walon Green
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Produced by: Jon Davison
Cast:
Peter Weller
Nancy Allen
Daniel O'Herlihy
Tom Noonan
Belinda Bauer
Gabriel Damon
Even in the future of law enforcement there is room for improvement.
In 1987, audiences across the world were graced with the science-fiction/action film RoboCop, an intelligent and enormously entertaining motion-picture that served as an allegory regarding the dangers of consumerism, commercialism, conservatism, and Reaganomics. In essence, it was a commentary on the very nation it existed within - 1980s America - as well as a warning regarding that nation's future (much like the equally intelligent and entertaining sci-fi/horror film They Live, directed by John Carpenter). With RoboCop, director Paul Verhoeven hit audiences with all the sledgehammer subtlety of TV advertisements with a message to wake up and understand the world that was happening all around them. It's no surprise that this message resonated (kind of) to the point where the film was a commercial success. And where there's commercial success, as capitalism in the entertainment business has taught us, there's almost assuredly going to be a franchise, or at the very least a sequel.
For RoboCop's first sequel, the studio made an inspired, but perhaps safe choice, regarding who the man to replace Verhoeven in the director's chair ought to be. Irvin Kershner was most notorious for having directed Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. With the enormous success and fan following for the Star Wars franchise that stemmed out of Empire, the studio was hopeful Kershner would be able to inspire the same sort of mega-fandom by directing RoboCop 2. So, how does RoboCop 2 manage as a piece of cinema, sequel or not?
Screenwriters Frank Miller and Walon Green recognized what worked in the first RoboCop and utilized these elements that made that movie both a box-office success and a piece of social commentary for their sequel. While there are fewer, randomly placed fake advertisements in RoboCop 2, the film does try to make some claims about consumerism, however, it is clear that these claims aren't the main focus of the overall point of the movie and that they in no way differ from what was already said in Verhoeven's first film. OCP is still an evil corporation that wants to privatize the municipal elements of Detroit simply for profitable gains. Nothing's changed at all.
The main focus of RoboCop 2 is the conundrum of a mass drug addiction epidemic - one that was mirrored by an occurring drug problem in the United States for years up to this point, and had really reached a boiling point around this time due to the government's declared War on Drugs initiative. With their script, and with Kershner's more than capable direction, Miller and Green attempted to create a commentary on a city (or a nation) plagued with a drug problem, and how said problem interacted with the corrupt business dealings and hostile corporate takeovers of governmental legislation that were simultaneously occurring.
If this sounds like it's too big of a quandary for an action/science-fiction film that is also trying to sell tickets and be entertaining enough to pull in theater patrons to try to make a logical point on, it's because it is. RoboCop 2 manages to fail in regards to making any kind of point on all of these societal evils that it exploits to craft its own story - other than, of course, what had already been said in the first movie. There is one moment within the film that must be commended for coming the closest to some sort of tangible societal commentary on these issues. In an exchange between the city's mayor and several council members, a drug lord offers to bail out the city's financial debt to the evil corporations. In exchange, the mayor would decriminalize the narcotic being sold, allowing for it to essentially be a legal and marketable product and for him to become a hero for "ridding the streets of crime." In this moment, Kershner, Miller, and Green seem to be making a commentary on the legalization of illegal substances in order to create a direct revenue stream for the government outside of corporate donations and influence. To top this off, the scene is interrupted by a literal killing machine that massacres all of them, a machine designed and sent by the corporations to do so, so that business can continue as usual with them at the top and in power. This scene, as remarkably brilliant as it is, unfortunately doesn't last long enough for its point to fully resonate. In the first RoboCop, the commentary was tangible throughout. Here, its clarity is only present in this all too brief scene.
Despite failing to live up to its predecessor's intelligent commentary, RoboCop 2 proves to be an entertaining enough action film on its own. Kershner, as evidenced by his handling of films like Empire and the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again, clearly knew how to orchestrate engaging sequences of violence and action, and RoboCop 2 delivers on both. A chop-shop sequence, where the hero is literally torn to pieces is intense to watch unfold - mainly for its lack of on screen violence (oil spraying instead of blood is a nice touch). An all out raid upon a warehouse toward the end of the film's second act proves to be the major highlight, and its great to see the clunky hero chasing after criminals in edge of your seat action that reminds viewers why they love these types of films in the first place. The climax battle does fall a little flat, but this again is because it is a retread of the confrontation in the first RoboCop. We've seen the hero battle a larger, more powerful cyborg before. Here it becomes redundant and boring.
The performances are decent enough in RoboCop 2. Peter Weller is great as Murphy yet again, but much is missing in regards to his human elements. What made Murphy great in the first RoboCop was his internal struggle between his past human life and his mechanical duties in the present to his corporate superiors. Murphy's memories are quickly fed to the audience in the first moments of RoboCop 2 but they're unfortunately just as quickly pushed aside and never brought back up. Nancy Allen, unfortunately, is underutilized in this film and her presence feels obligatory at best. In the first film she helped Murphy to remember who he was. Here, she's just sort of taking up space. Daniel O'Herlihy is wonderful as the OCP CEO hellbent on taking over Detroit for profit, and likewise Tom Noonan does an amazing job as the pseudo-religious drug kingpin, equally driven by profit and capital.
While it's nowhere near as intelligent as its predecessor and therefore hardly merits discussion regarding motion-pictures with any sort of societal worth or commentary, RoboCop 2 does prove to be an entertaining action movie that was constructed by a more than capable group of writers and a competent, and arguably under-appreciated, filmmaker with the pieces they were dealt. It's not a complete waste of time, and anyone who wishes to watch the film, again, keeping in mind that it won't live up to the same standards as its predecessor ahead of screening it, won't find it to be a painful viewing experience.
5/10
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