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In Defense of Robocop 2

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Leynos

Member
Yeah, Robocop 2 is a decent movie.

Robocop 3 on the other hand...

RoboCop 3 is utter shit, it has not one redeeming quality.

As for RoboCop 2, they did a disservice by not including my boy Bixby Snyder, (he of the diminutive wallet.)
 
Robocop 2 has a wildly different tone. It is way uglier as it seems to wallow in how disgusting it is. It thinks it has carte blanche to be gross but isn't able to earn its grossness and tries to make light of it in the moment coming off cruel as opposed to funny.

It tries to present horrific cartoony violence as funny and falls on its face every time, for example the little league team beating the store owner with a bat. If that was an adult without empathy that works, but kids without empathy is pretty ugly.

Clarence felt like a real cutthroat criminal or gangster where Kain feels like a over the top cartoon character. The main kid is totally abhorrent and is only there because it is designed to simply be grossly ridiculous.

All the social commentary is stupidly overt as opposed to cleverly layered as in the first movie.

I believe Kirshner was hired just before the cameras rolled so it is hard to blame him. Though I remember him quoted suggesting that the original was too violent and he wanted to pull it back a bit. In the end he went farther than Verhoeven did.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
I believe Kirshner was hired just before the cameras rolled so it is hard to blame him. Though I remember him quoted suggesting that the original was too violent and he wanted to pull it back a bit. In the end he went farther than Verhoeven did.

I'm not so sure about that... I don't recall anything as stomach turning as toxic man or Murphy's death in 2. It has a lot of death and violence, and some creepy imagery(the Robocop 2 experiments), but I don't recall it being as gory.
 
Yeah I can't agree. It completely misses the tone of the original. Like the people who wrote it didn't understand the first film at all. It emulates it in all the wrong ways.
The original is just on an entirely different level.
 
Nope. Cannot agree, and I've touched on this before.

Robocop is about Murphy reclaiming his humanity.

Robocop 2 is him realizing that despite reclaiming said humanity - he can never go back to his old life. He becomes bitter AND more robotic because he thinks he has nothing left. He starts to act like a machine - subsequently getting his ass handed to him by Kane. It isn't undermining the original film, it continues it by pointing out (unlike the terrible reboot) that Murphy cannot get back what he lost.

After getting rebuilt and nearly driven insane by OCP treating him like a machine, he pulls a desperate move to clear his head - literally. His talk with the psychiatrist reflects this, he wants to move while he's stuck in the chair, he wants to go do things - but he has no reason or motivation to do so. When OCP monkeys with his brain and turns him into a literal robot, he struggles against it. He realizes his humanity is part of his strength and rallies the other cops to take down Kane. He uses his ability to think like a human to take down Kane. The motorcycle vs van scene demonstrates this. He knows Kane is an ego maniac and won't back down. Kane ironically doesn't use his head - he could just avoid Robocop and continue running. But no, Murphy taunts him, goading him into a game of Chicken, and Murphy knows he can win that game. His machine half is all logic and procedure - his human half is about intuition and cunning.

A machine would never have thought to try to drop Kane from a 10 story building, or lure Kane into a trap with the Nuke. Hell, he uses the power of continuity to remember "Hey, I've got this cannon from before I used on ED-209, probably good if I bring that along."

There's a reason the last line of the movie is "Patience Lewis. We're only human."

I dont think these ideas were executed well in the final product, and at best, that feels like a retread to me. After the journey of Murphy rediscovering his humanity in the first film, having him try to discard that humanity only to regain it again seems redundant and amounts to basically the same thing we got at the end of the first film.

We have:

1) Murphy's near death at the hands of not Clarence Boddiker

2) His "resurrection" as a primarily robotic minded being, but with the conflict shown in the form of gags with a quick, easy resolution soon after.

3) And the return of his humanity that only results in him taking out the villain.

It's like Robocop 1 again, but lesser.

Even the scenes with his wife seemed rushed, and dug up the same ground that I felt was already covered concisely in an exchange with Murphy and Lewis in the first film.

Robocop: Murphy had a wife and son. What happened to them?
Officer Lewis: Well, after the funeral... she moved away.
RoboCop: Where did they go?
Officer Lewis: She thought you were dead. She started over again.


I don't know. While you're right that there was an attempt at tackling the issue of Murphy's humanity, I just didn't feel anything in the final product. Maybe it's the overabundance of characters, ideas and storylines that take up screen time which could've been used for Murphy. Or the more cheesy tone compared to the original. Or perhaps the fact that the first film worked so well as a self contained story. Regardless, I don't think what we got worked in the end.
 

Zoe

Member
Hey, look at this.

robocop-2-1990-12.jpg

This scarred me as a kid. Nervous systems will never not give me the creeps,
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Fantastic action flick. Love everything about it, even the new OST. It's not Verhoeven's film, but it's the only other good thing that even came out of Robocop. Love the grit, love the gore, love the darker feel, and Cain is an amazing villain. Just pure evil. Robocop is Top 5 films of all time. 2 is easily Top 100 IMO.
 
Best part is, the reason they made the design so over the top was to make it harder for bootleg toy makers to rip it off.

Unfortunately, they also made it so complex that no legitimate toy maker could pull it off either. Hot Toys announced their version about a decade ago and still nothing.

I've always wanted a Robocain toy since I was a kid and decided to try my hand at making a 3D model I could play around with but I necer got around to finishing it either:



I love how utilitarian, yet terrifying, the design is. He's basically a giant swiss army knife on legs with none of the mobility issues of ED-209. Sure ED's design is more iconic, but Cain is actually useful.

The animation is fantastic too. I love the small details like Cain's toes digging into the ground to stop his roll when Robocop jumps on his back.
 

Grug

Member
The scene where they torture a guy with a scalpel freaked me out as a kid. I havent been game to watch it since.

Maybe that scene would be comical now but it gave me nightmares.
 
Robocop 2 clearly didn't match Robocop 1 but it gets more shit than it deserves and I have a big soft spot for it.

Robocop 3 is one of my most hated movies of all time.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
It has some interesting aspects and the prototypes scene, and anything held against the first would suffer, but no it's awful.

Robocop 3 just retroactively elevated it, by being unimaginably bad.
 

>:)

Member
Unfortunately, they also made it so complex that no legitimate toy maker could pull it off either. Hot Toys announced their version about a decade ago and still nothing.

I've always wanted a Robocain toy since I was a kid and decided to try my hand at making a 3D model I could play around with but I necer got around to finishing it either:



I love how utilitarian, yet terrifying, the design is. He's basically a giant swiss army knife on legs with none of the mobility issues of ED-209. Sure ED's design is more iconic, but Cain is actually useful.

The animation is fantastic too. I love the small details like Cain's toes digging into the ground to stop his roll when Robocop jumps on his back.

Cain was a goddamn cheat code in robot form. Seriously.

Cobra assault cannon that one shotted ED? Might as well be throwing rocks at him.

Drop him off a building? Bounces his ass right back up.

Drive a tank straight into him? Get that shit outta my face!

Nuke is a hell of a drug. Should've stopped there because how the hell do you top that? Turns out you can't. Them robo ninja's sure as hell ain't Genji's.
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
Any 80s GAF ever watch the cartoon? Where the intro is a straight up G-rated version of Alex Murphy getting gunned down?

RoboCop_animated_title_screen.jpg

Late getting to this as I've watched about 7 hours of wrestling tonight but yup. I've watched everything RoboCop. Even the remake. The remake actually wasn't that bad. Still I'd rather forget that it exist. The Cartoon was pure goofiness. I still don't know who thought it was a good Idea.
 

Chinner

Banned
Robocop 2 is a good film, but it's held back by some evident flaws. The pacing is off, and it slumps half way through the film when Robocop disappears from his own film. Still, it's pretty underrated as sequels go and it has plenty of great scenes in it.
 
Being based off a Frank Miller script seems to explains a lot. The whole thing drips with an edgy late 80s comic vibe.

Some amazing design and effects work, for sure! How much the rest of the film holds up is up for debate.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Robocop is one of my favourite ever movies. Used to be able to literally recite the entire thing as I watched it. Robocop 2 was ok but just any old action movie with a recognisable character attached.

I've still never watched robocop 3. Part of me is curious if it's so bad it's good, but I don't want it to taint my views on the original at all
 
Yeah, it's alright. Can't say if it's as good/worse than the first one as I don't remember the films that well. Never really cared for them. But from what little I remember it was simple, cheesy fun.
 

SpacLock

Member
I liked Robocop 2 as much as the original, and I've probably watched it more.

The ending when he rips out the brain and smashes it on the pavement was pretty satisfying for a kid who liked violent movies.

Robocop is one of my favourite ever movies. Used to be bike to literally recite the entire thing as I watched it. Robocop 2 was ok but just any old action movie with a recognisable character attached.

I've still never watched robocop 3. Part of me is curious if it's so bad it's good, but I don't want it to taint my views on the original at all

Don't watch 3 if you haven't. Almost ruined them all for me.
 

Sapiens

Member
Robocop always had that weird vibe like Jackie Chan Hong Kong movies. It just felt off.



Yes. This and C.O.P.S. were goat.

The C.O.P.S. intro is another level of animation though. It's like almost thundercats level.

Anyways - here's my simple thought - and it reflects what someone else already said - the creators of this movie didn't get Robo1 at all. Remember the first scene of the film where there is a shot of a prostitute or two and they call someone a fuckhead after they gouged some john's eyeball out with her heal?

First of all - with swearing - no one naturally says "fuckhead" ever. It's like the people just saw Robo1 and said - okay, we need whores and swearing. That's what people want. "Fuckhead" is unnatural. "You burnt the fuckin money" sounds like something someone would actually say and don't mess with this asshole.

They fail to realize the Robo1 had characters that swore and whores/bitches and it was successful not because of it. It was successful because - believe it or not - it ends up becoming super feel-good movie with an awesome ending and was not cynical. Those whores, drugs and cusses were elements of the picture they were trying to paint - not the whole point.

Robo2 was just a cynical movie made by a committee of people - and written by colossal hack shithead frank miller - who did not understand how all the parts fit together in the first one.

The only good thing about Robo2 was that we got some supreme late-era stop-motion from phil tippet.

Rob Bottin fucked up the robo-suit. And weller oversold his mime work - imo. I mean, it's fantastic work - but it was a little too camp.
 

Sephzilla

Member
Nope. Cannot agree, and I've touched on this before.

Robocop is about Murphy reclaiming his humanity.

Robocop 2 is him realizing that despite reclaiming said humanity - he can never go back to his old life. He becomes bitter AND more robotic because he thinks he has nothing left. He starts to act like a machine - subsequently getting his ass handed to him by Kane. It isn't undermining the original film, it continues it by pointing out (unlike the terrible reboot) that Murphy cannot get back what he lost.

After getting rebuilt and nearly driven insane by OCP treating him like a machine, he pulls a desperate move to clear his head - literally. His talk with the psychiatrist reflects this, he wants to move while he's stuck in the chair, he wants to go do things - but he has no reason or motivation to do so. When OCP monkeys with his brain and turns him into a literal robot, he struggles against it. He realizes his humanity is part of his strength and rallies the other cops to take down Kane. He uses his ability to think like a human to take down Kane. The motorcycle vs van scene demonstrates this. He knows Kane is an ego maniac and won't back down. Kane ironically doesn't use his head - he could just avoid Robocop and continue running. But no, Murphy taunts him, goading him into a game of Chicken, and Murphy knows he can win that game. His machine half is all logic and procedure - his human half is about intuition and cunning.

A machine would never have thought to try to drop Kane from a 10 story building, or lure Kane into a trap with the Nuke. Hell, he uses the power of continuity to remember "Hey, I've got this cannon from before I used on ED-209, probably good if I bring that along."

There's a reason the last line of the movie is "Patience Lewis. We're only human."
You, I like you
 

Tizoc

Member
Cj you my homie
So ill go by ypur word and give robocop 2 a watch and try enjoy it by its own merits
 
Robocop is one of my favourite ever movies. Used to be able to literally recite the entire thing as I watched it. Robocop 2 was ok but just any old action movie with a recognisable character attached.

I've still never watched robocop 3. Part of me is curious if it's so bad it's good, but I don't want it to taint my views on the original at all

They
fucking kill Lewis
.
 
The C.O.P.S. intro is another level of animation though. It's like almost thundercats level.

Anyways - here's my simple thought - and it reflects what someone else already said - the creators of this movie didn't get Robo1 at all. Remember the first scene of the film where there is a shot of a prostitute or two and they call someone a fuckhead after they gouged some john's eyeball out with her heal?

First of all - with swearing - no one naturally says "fuckhead" ever.
It's like the people just saw Robo1 and said - okay, we need whores and swearing. That's what people want. "Fuckhead" is unnatural. "You burnt the fuckin money" sounds like something someone would actually say and don't mess with this asshole.

They fail to realize the Robo1 had characters that swore and whores/bitches and it was successful not because of it. It was successful because - believe it or not - it ends up becoming super feel-good movie with an awesome ending and was not cynical. Those whores, drugs and cusses were elements of the picture they were trying to paint - not the whole point.

Robo2 was just a cynical movie made by a committee of people - and written by colossal hack shithead frank miller - who did not understand how all the parts fit together in the first one.

The only good thing about Robo2 was that we got some supreme late-era stop-motion from phil tippet.

Rob Bottin fucked up the robo-suit. And weller oversold his mime work - imo. I mean, it's fantastic work - but it was a little too camp.



My dad used to refer to me as Fuckhead.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
Unfortunately, they also made it so complex that no legitimate toy maker could pull it off either. Hot Toys announced their version about a decade ago and still nothing.

3A announced they were making one a couple of years ago and even showed a gray prototype,which predictably couldn't stand.

98f415ac59d915db3a1ebf84b267da90.jpg


Of course, nothing was shown since.

My dad used to refer to me as Fuckhead.

Lucky you. I wish my dad gave me a nickname from an awesome movie.

I'm so sorry.
 

RangerX

Banned
I think the film can be a bit of campy fun but it's undoubtedly a bad film and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as the first film.
 

Shanlei91

Sonic handles my blue balls
Nope. Cannot agree, and I've touched on this before.

Robocop is about Murphy reclaiming his humanity.

Robocop 2 is him realizing that despite reclaiming said humanity - he can never go back to his old life. He becomes bitter AND more robotic because he thinks he has nothing left. He starts to act like a machine - subsequently getting his ass handed to him by Kane. It isn't undermining the original film, it continues it by pointing out (unlike the terrible reboot) that Murphy cannot get back what he lost.

After getting rebuilt and nearly driven insane by OCP treating him like a machine, he pulls a desperate move to clear his head - literally. His talk with the psychiatrist reflects this, he wants to move while he's stuck in the chair, he wants to go do things - but he has no reason or motivation to do so. When OCP monkeys with his brain and turns him into a literal robot, he struggles against it. He realizes his humanity is part of his strength and rallies the other cops to take down Kane. He uses his ability to think like a human to take down Kane. The motorcycle vs van scene demonstrates this. He knows Kane is an ego maniac and won't back down. Kane ironically doesn't use his head - he could just avoid Robocop and continue running. But no, Murphy taunts him, goading him into a game of Chicken, and Murphy knows he can win that game. His machine half is all logic and procedure - his human half is about intuition and cunning.

A machine would never have thought to try to drop Kane from a 10 story building, or lure Kane into a trap with the Nuke. Hell, he uses the power of continuity to remember "Hey, I've got this cannon from before I used on ED-209, probably good if I bring that along."

There's a reason the last line of the movie is "Patience Lewis. We're only human."

9X2yKmT.gif
 
It at least gave us a cool boss fight in Robocop Vs Terminator

Robocop_Robocop2.gif
I was waiting for someone to mention this game, it's fucking badass.
3A announced they were making one a couple of years ago and even showed a gray prototype,which predictably couldn't stand.

98f415ac59d915db3a1ebf84b267da90.jpg


Of course, nothing was shown since.
Maybe Bandai should make one and just give you an action base for it since it'll never be accurate and naturally standable at the same time.
 
There's no defense. It's a trainwreck. Pure fucking trash. This is a shitty comic book writer trying to mimic the satirical tone of Verhoven and ended up creating some fucking parody. The sunbloc ad is a great example how everything is wrong with this movie. "Oh those ads were nice..."

Cain? The real villain of this film is that annoying kid. He is always there. He fights Lewis. He handles the raid. He shoots Robocop. He even explains how to disassemble him. He then leads some kind or organization dealing with the Mayor. Lmao. Fucking hot garbage.

There's two concepts completely underutilized. The privatization of an entire city and the utilitarianism vs public perception. Off course they're there for plot sake instead of any interesting exploration of it's consequences.
 
I've always felt it was a worthy sequel. Not a classic like the original, but still a great movie. Unlike that other one... which shall not be uttered.
 

Fisty

Member
You could definitely tell there was a landmark film in there somewhere, but I think producer/studio meddling fucked it up. I mean, look at the talent that was on board, and the book it was supposed to be based on. Shame, it'll be remembered only as a good sequel to the perfect 80s movie
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Unfortunately, they also made it so complex that no legitimate toy maker could pull it off either. Hot Toys announced their version about a decade ago and still nothing.

I've always wanted a Robocain toy since I was a kid and decided to try my hand at making a 3D model I could play around with but I necer got around to finishing it either:



I love how utilitarian, yet terrifying, the design is. He's basically a giant swiss army knife on legs with none of the mobility issues of ED-209. Sure ED's design is more iconic, but Cain is actually useful.

The animation is fantastic too. I love the small details like Cain's toes digging into the ground to stop his roll when Robocop jumps on his back.

I kinda want to buy a Chronicle Collectibles RoboCain just to use as reference for a CAD model and then resell.
 
I dont' wanna see anyone in this thread speaking well of RoboCop 2 ever complaining about creative bankruptcy, executive meddling, studio cash-ins, cash-grabs, and cynical, pandering fanservice in any form, anywhere else, ever again.

That shit is now forfeit.
 
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