Robocop 2

PLOT:

RoboCop is slowly coming to grips with the loss of his former life as Alex Murphy. Though he attempts to reach out to his family, he eventually realizes he can never return to them. When he finally sees his wife, he tells her that the face was placed on him to honor Alex Murphy.

OCP’s current plans also come into focus: they attempt to have Detroit default on its debt, so that OCP can foreclose on the entire city, take over the city government, demolish the old city, and put up a planned community development, Delta City, in its place. As part of this plan, OCP forces a police strike by terminating their pension plan and cutting salaries. As RoboCop is property of OCP and cannot strike, this measure increases his duties as the city sinks further into chaos and terror.

Meanwhile, the Security Concepts division of OCP continues to sink millions into the development of a more advanced “RoboCop 2″. However, each project ends in disaster; once the officers realize what they have become, they immediately turn suicidal. They deduce that Murphy only survived because of his exceedingly strong sense of duty, and his moral objection to suicide as an Irish-Catholic. The scientists decide they need someone similar, like a criminal with a desire for power and immortality, regardless of the cost.

Throughout the city, a new designer drug named “Nuke” has been plaguing the streets. The primary distributor, Cain, believes that Nuke is the way to paradise, and is obsessed with power. He is assisted by his girlfriend Angie, his still-juvenile apprentice Hob, and Officer Duffy, a corrupt police officer. Having learned of Cain’s involvement with Nuke from Duffy, RoboCop confronts him and his gang at an abandoned construction site. However, RoboCop is rendered immobile and disassembled; the pieces are then left in front of the Detroit Police Station.

OCP, reluctant to foot his massive repair costs, ignores his fellow police officers insistence that he be repaired. RoboCop is saved when Dr. Juliette Faxx, an OCP psychologist, takes charge of the new RoboCop team. She argues for his importance as a figure of the community, and creates a list of over 300 new directives to be added to his program. Murphy is ultimately powerless to refuse the new commands, and is rendered unable to take aggressive action against criminals, even to defend himself. After the original RoboCop team explains what to do about this, Murphy shocks himself with a power cable to erase all of his directives. He then leads the striking officers off the picket line to attack Cain’s hideout. Cain is badly injured in the battle and is taken to the hospital. With Cain immobilized, Hob takes control. Faxx, having decided that Cain is perfect for the RoboCop 2 project, arrives at the hospital and switches off his life support. Later, while displaying the new RoboCop 2 (Cain) to the head of OCP, Faxx demonstrates how he may be pacified through a canister of pure Nuke.

Meanwhile, Hob arranges a secret meeting with the Mayor, offering to bail out the city’s debt to OCP, but only if he agrees to a hands-off policy regarding the distribution of Nuke. Since this would hinder OCP’s attempts to take over the city, they send RoboCop 2 in to kill everyone. While the mayor escapes through a sewer drain, all attendants, including Hob, Angie and two city councilmen, are slaughtered. RoboCop arrives late, only in time to find and comfort a dying Hob, who tells him about what happened.

During the unveiling of Delta City and Robocop 2 at a press conference, the OCP President unwittingly presents a canister filled with Nuke. Cain escapes control, destroying the control device that arms his weapons, and opens fire on the crowd. RoboCop arrives, and the two cyborgs battle throughout the building, eventually falling off the roof and into an underground facility. As the rest of the police force arrives and engages Cain, RoboCop heads back to the OCP building to get the canister of Nuke. Upon seeing the canister, RoboCop 2 immediately ceases fire and takes it. While distracted, RoboCop jumps onto his back, punches his way through to Cain’s brain, and crushes it.

The Chairman of OCP, executive Johnson, and OCP lawyer Holzgang discuss the companies liability for the massacre, and decide to scapegoat Faxx, claiming that she acted without company support in designing RoboCop 2. Lewis complains about how the OCP executives will escape legally unscathed, but RoboCop reassured Lewis and tells her to be patient.

REVIEW:

Following the events of the original Robocop, Robocop 2 should have been an automatic smash, right? Well, not quite.

First off, there was some sort of change at the top, so we don’t have the same director or writers (I think). Second, the story doesn’t gel.

Don’t gret me wrong, having Robocop tackle both the war on drugs as well as the corruption in the city government works, but something about doing them both didn’t quite sit right with me. I think it was more to do with how these are two totally unrelated things that somehow get loosely connected through the use of the same leader, but they could have had that going on from day one and made it that much super.

Violence is something that you should expect from a late 80s-early 90s action flick, especially this, so I don’t wanna hear that all the shooting was too much. If you think this is too much, go watch a war movie!

The action could be better. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but Robocop moves so stiff and doesn’t appear available to run. This brings to question how does he chase down criminals? Sure, it looks like he catches all of them, but you can’t tell me there aren’t more tan a few who have simple run away. Roocop dos miss once in a while.

The casting is pretty much consistent with the first film, although I have to say that newcomer Gabriel Damon, who plays the kid that’s the second in command. He commands such a presence on the screen, you’d think he was a bonafide leading man.

As far as cop flicks go, this one is not going to be basking in the same glory as the original. However, it is worth a watching just to complete the trilogy. It isn’t as bad a critics make it out to be, but rather quite enjoyable. I could have down without the onslaught of technical attacks on Robosop. For some reason, I ws under the impression that all the armor and stuff was meant to protect him, and that what is left of his human side had enough free will to allow him to not seem so robotic. I guess this is worth a viewing, but if you really want to see a good action flick, there are plenty of alternatives.

3 out of 5 stars

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