The team behind the new RoboCop knows they have a fight on their hands. There’s an uphill struggle to be fought against those who don’t think a remake of the 1987 Paul Verhoeven classic is necessary and who are waiting, perhaps, to be convinced it could work. We got a look at some new footage and a decent trailer at Comic-Con, and now the latter is online.
brightcove.createExperiences();The year is the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the centre of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years, and it’s meant billions for OmniCorp’s bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it.
When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice.
With his updated look (the black battle armour and red-for-danger visor make him look like Michael Knight and K.I.T.T. had a son together) and topical themes about drones and the cost of humanity in war, director Jose Padilha and his cast, including Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Jay Baruchel and Michael K. Williams, might have a shot at overcoming their detractors. In our opinion, the trailer doesn’t hurt their cause, but let us know what you think.
RoboCop will be out here on February 7.