Where would the modern action film be without Paul Verhoeven? Where would violence in modern cinema be without him? Just like Sam Peckinpah shocked the world with his violent movies years ago, Verhoeven has done the same. I'm not saying that Verhoeven and Peckinpah are in the same league (really, will they be watching "Total Recall" instead of "The Wild Bunch" in film schools anytime soon?), but this is probably a good way to describe Verhoeven's films. Excess to the max. Not one of his films has ever recieved an "R" rating on the first go-around, they always had to edited from the "X" or "NC17."

Enough with the director's backstory. You're reading this to find out about what is arguably Verhoeven's most popular film: "RoboCop." It has achieved that popularity for a reason. It may be a slightly cheesy action film filled to the brim with excessive amounts of violence, but it has substance to go with this. Unlike other action films that pack on the gore, this one has a theme and secretly works as a film about humanity. Some films, like the 2003 turd "Bad Boys II" think that graphically showing a bullet entering a head in slow-motion is cool. Well, it isn't. What? Am I contradicting myself here? Because "RoboCop" features a lot of evildoers being shot in the head. But unlike Michael "The Hack" Bay, Verhoevne adds variety to his violence and doesn't just show the same thing over and over and over and over and over...

Enough about that though. "RoboCop" takes place in the near future in Detroit. The cops are being overwhelmed by criminals, and society almost seems to be crumbling. A major corporation that practically rules the city designs a project that could make the city much safer. All they need is someone to use for the experiment...

...enter Officer Murphy (Peter Weller), a nice cop re-assigned to the worst part of Detroit. His job turns disastrous when he pursues a dangerous criminal (Kurtwood Smith, a long way from "That '70s Show"). He is captured, brutally tortured, and finally killed. He is declared dead, but his body is taken to the corporation, and after some tinkering with the latest technology and the wiping of his memory, Murphy becomes-

ROBOCOP!


With his brain programmed to protect the innocent, his body made of bulletproof metal, and his weaponry being state of the art, RoboCop is the ideal cop. Crime drops to almost nothing with him on the job, and the criminals who don't immediately surrender to him eithe end up beaten up, shot, blown up, or, as one unlucky attempted rapist found out, having their genitals shot off. Yes sirree, RoboCop is an unbiased arresting/killing machine...until RoboCop learns that he used to be a man named Murphy. Who had a family. And was tortured and killed. Apparently even cyborgs want revenge.

Directed with enthusiasm, written cleverly, and performed surprisingly well, "RoboCop" is THE movie to kick back and watch with a bucket of popcorn. RoboCop goes from action scene to action scene, shooting his way through dozens of villains and even a homicidal stop-motion animated robot with a gatling gun. Toss on an exhilarating musical score, and a supercool hero, and you have a great action film...unless you can't stomach it. Where else in mainstream film (other than a Verhoeven film) can you find a scene where a bad guy is drenched in toxic waste, practically melts, and then is run over by his own boss and he literally splatters into little chunks? Yep, it's gross, but when a film doesn't take itself seriously, it's a delightfully twisted little scene.

And "RoboCop" is a delightfully twisted little movie. It's shame that the RoboCop toys became popular with kids so they had to dumb it down for the sequels, because this could have been a great series.

© Written by Jacob Hall

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - D- Richard Propes - C Jacob Hall - B+

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