Tonight on TV: Yes, this remake is less good than the original, but it’s still worth a session

In 1988, Paul Verhoeven caused a sensation with Robocop, a little SF wonder about an infallible weapon. This weapon is a flesh and steel electronic police officer, half man, half robot, whose mission is to protect the peace of the city of Detroit, prey to crime and corruption. A cyborg that also has a soul…

Almost a quarter of a century later, José Padilha (Tropa de Elite, Narcos series) takes on the challenge of creating a remake of this classic. His 2014 version of Robocop, starring Joel Kinnaman as Peter Weller’s famous cop, isn’t without its flaws, but proves to be completely honest, as it’s hard to move on from such a prestigious film.

José Padilha clearly knew the direction he was taking for his Robocop: it is a complete departure from the direction of Paul Verhoeven, known for his portrayal of the country’s paranoid security and his visual ultra-violence.

In his version, the Brazilian filmmaker questions how man should try to remain himself in the face of his new status as a machine.

“Making this movie is a big responsibility. Especially in a world where a lot of remakes are made for cynical economic reasons.”says Joel Kinnaman, the cyborg cop’s translator. “But having Jose Padilha as director allayed those fears.”

“The biggest tribute we can pay to Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop is to recognize that it’s a very intelligent film and try to do something intelligent behind it and not just reproduce old formulas.”continues the actor.

“So we kept a few things from the original as a wink for the fans, but we tried not to do a remake.”

If you’re a fan of Robocop’s eighties design, forget it! The look of the half-man, half-robot cop in 2014 is really quite different. Step out of the silver armor and make way for a darker suit reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Batman.

Tonight on 6 ter at 21:05.

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