Someone with an eye on 1980s nostalgia decided the future of law enforcement needed an update, and Robocop 2.0 is metal gear solid.
For his Hollywood debut, the producers gave Brazilian director Padilha a heavyweight star cast and a mega-budget for this controversial ''reimagining'' of a movie held by most men aged in their 30s as dear as Aliens, Die Hard, Predator and The Terminator.
However, with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy more of a touchstone than the flying Dutchman's 1987 original, Padilha's Robocop delves deeper into shady corporate machinations and the emotional repercussions on the wife (Abbie Cornish) and son of slain Detroit undercover detective Alex Murphy (Kinnaman) when he is rebuilt as the 2.6-billion-dollar man.
This version avoids launching the salvo of brutal humour Verhoeven fired at Reagan-era yuppified consumerism his European sense and sensibilities encountered when making his first American ''adult fairytale''.
Gone, too, are the parallels between the resurrections of Murphy and Christ.
Set further in the future of 2028, a bewigged Samuel L. Jackson plays Pat Novak, a hyper right-wing anchor lobbying from his television pulpit for weaponised robots to patrol American cities, just as they do in global war zones.
Omnicorp chief executive Raymond Sellers (Keaton) realises a part-man, part-machine law enforcer will circumvent the Government ban on street fighting droids and boost his profit margin, so tasks the Oppenheimer-esque robotics genius Dr Dennett Norton (Oldman) to save what's left of Murphy when gangsters blow him up outside his home.
The new Robocop, more than the original, explores the horror of a man waking up to discover he has become a machine and addresses the contentious issue of drones - who, or what, should pull the trigger.
Robocop (M)
Starring: Joel Kinnaman (The Killing), Gary Oldman (Paranoia), Michael Keaton (Clear History).
Director: Jose Padilha (Elite Squad, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within).
Screening: Reading Cinemas Queenstown
Four stars (out of five)
