Kurt Loder Reviews RoboCop

If we must have a remake of
Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 RoboCop—and it appears that we
must—Brazilian director José Padilha has found a smart way to do
one, writes Kurt Loder. First, hire actors who can enliven the
proceedings beyond the call of genre. Then, dial down the bloody
mayhem just a bit and expand the story’s original focus—on
municipal and corporate corruption—to also take in the alarming
contemporary phenomenon of militarized police forces. The
philosophical themes that made Verhoeven’s film so unexpectedly
touching—what is free will? what does it mean to be
human?—naturally remain in place.

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