The 2014RoboCopreboot had one of the most impressively star-studded casts of any recent big-budget action movie, and it should’ve been successful enough to launch a franchise. Just over two decades afterRoboCop 3was panned asthe worst entry in theRoboCopseries(and one of the worst movies ever made), the franchise was rebooted for a modern blockbuster age.Elite Squad’s José Padilha took the helm in the director’s chair, and original writers Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner worked on the script.
Altered Carbonstar Joel Kinnaman inherited the lead role of Alex Murphy from Peter Wellerand he was backed up by some of the biggest movie stars in the world in supporting roles. It had a whopping production budget to bring the explosive action and futuristic spectacle to life, and a talented crew to pull it off.TheRoboCoprebootseemed to have everything going for it — and it was a surprisingly good movie — but it still wasn’t a big enough box office success to earn a sequel.
RoboCop’s Star-Studded Cast Wasn’t Enough To Make It A Success
An All-Star Line-Up Couldn’t Save This Movie
The supporting cast of2014’sRoboCopreboot features some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Michael Keaton plays the unscrupulous CEO of OmniCorp, Gary Oldman plays the chief scientist at OmniCop who creates RoboCop, and Samuel L. Jackson plays a prominent advocate for mechanized crime control. The movie also has Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, and Jay Baruchel. But unfortunately, all this star power didn’t boost it at the box office.It grossed $242,688,965 on a $100 million budget(viaBox Office Mojo), meaning it barely broke even.
It Lacked The Satire Of The Original, But It Was A Solid Action Movie
2014’sRoboCophad its fair share of problems —it’s clear that there was a lot of studio meddling behind the scenes to sanitize the violence and soften the political themes— but it had some really cool ideas and it was a promising reboot of the franchise. The RoboCop redesign was really interesting. It was criticized for taking off his helmet and showing Murphy’s face, but that allowed Kinnaman to really connect with the audience in the role.
The biggest problem with 2014’sRoboCopis that it lacks the satirical intent of the 1987 original.1987’sRoboCopis a lot smarter than it seems; it uses its story of a megacorporation creating an obedient law enforcement machine to critique capitalism, authoritarianism, and corporate greed. That satire is mostly lacking from theRoboCopremake; it’s just a straightforward sci-fi action movie. But there’s no denying that it’s a solid action movie.
RoboCop
Cast
RoboCop, released in 2014, is set in 2028 and explores OmniCorp’s ambition to integrate robot technology into American law enforcement. When Detroit police officer Alex Murphy is critically injured, OmniCorp seizes the opportunity to create a part-man, part-robot officer, aiming for widespread deployment and profit.
