RoboCop 2

RoboCop 2

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One of RoboCop 2’s most interesting aspects is its title. At first glance the title is just a lazy way of saying “here’s the sequel to RoboCop” until you watch the movie and the exact title “RoboCop 2” is uttered at least three times. The “RoboCop 2” is the successor to the original RoboCop and after a few flawed tests is made out of the brain of a deceased drug lord named Cain. So basically, this movie isn’t named after the hero but rather after the villain. It’s not often that happens.

In RoboCop 2 crime is even worse now the police is on strike. Only Murphy and Lewis still roam the streets. These streets are flooded by a new cheap designer drug named Nuke. The creator and distributor Cain sees himself like some sort of Jesus figure, but at the end of the day gets high on his own supply. An important part in his organization is for a young boy named Hob who takes being street smart to the next level.

The movie sees Cain eventually becoming a “volunteer” for a similar program to RoboCop and ends up being the brains, quite literally, of the towering RoboCop 2. But before this happens there are a lot of multiple show-downs between RoboCop and warehouses full of heavily armed bad guys. Like the first movie there were no budget-cuts made on the squibs full of fake blood though Verhoeven’s over-the-top touch is sadly absent.

RoboCop 2 is in terms of style very much a true sequel. It even has the news reports and commercials like the first movie had. This makes it a warm bath for the viewer who really immediately gets into the mood the first movie left you in. Sadly it doesn’t maintain that mood.

I’ve never could quite put the finger on it, but RoboCop 2 isn’t as good as the first movie. Sure that one is really hard to top, but still something about this movie just feels off. Maybe it’s because the humanizing aspect of RoboCop disappears after some struggles with his wife early on in the movie. It’s also strange that after this scene it feels as if the character has been reset. This element is introduced, but quickly forgotten. Another is the kid Hob. It always felt kinda off, and this viewing is no different. He’s never really believable as this ruthless drug lord and when he dies I almost was as glad as when King Joffrey got poisoned. It’s also strange to see RoboCop somewhat care for him even though this guy was partially responsible for dismantling RoboCop earlier on.

Or maybe it was the dissection of RoboCop halfway through the movie. Though it’s a great special effect they have him hanging in his laboratory while moving spastically as if he’s in a lot of pain. They have the possibility to shut him down temporarily, so why let him obviously suffer? Also the whole Cain transplantation seemed far fetched. They put the brain of drug abusing criminal junkie in a robot and expect it to uphold and enforce the law.

And she calls herself a scientist?

RoboCop 2 is a few notches down from the first movie, but it’s still miles above the 3rd movie and even better than the remake. Speaking of the remake; there’s one interesting similarity, aside from the fact that both movies feature RoboCop on a motorcycle, which I want to point out. Both movies have a shoot-out where the lights are blown and the entire environment is dark. This way RoboCop can take out a platoon of bad guys without showing too much violence on screen in the remake, but not so in this movie. Unlike the remake, the robot doing to shooting here (Cain) puts his victims in the spotlight with the 4 lights he’s carrying so that we the viewer can get a clear view of the people getting shot up.

RoboCop 2: fun but mediocre.


RoboCop 2 (1990) Poster
RoboCop 2 (1990) Poster
RoboCop 2
  • Year:
    1990
  • Director:
    • Irvin Kershner
  • Cast:
    • Peter Weller
    • Belinda Bauer
    • John Glover
    • Mario Machado
  • Genres:
    Action, Sci-Fi
  • Running time:
    117m

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