The original “RoboCop” wasn’t an amazing film but it made a huge impact because it offered something original. It was extremely violent yet it was done with a certain comedic slant that made it more than just a standard shooting fest. It was a rather biting satire as well but this new “RoboCop” misses the joke. The 2014 remake of “RoboCop” ironically adds more humanity to its main character but physically is more machine than ever.

In “RoboCop”, we see a futuristic world in which robots are being used to enforce the law everywhere but America. Police officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman “Safe House”) is murdered but brought back to life as a part-man part-machine to patrol the streets of Detroit. This is a way of exploiting a regulatory loophole banning robot police in the United States. It lacks the sense of humour of the older version.

The new RoboCop lacks the great voice of Peter Weller and doesn’t look as good. He tries to be emotionally engaging but it never really works. The best actors are easily Gary Oldman (“Batman Begins”) as the doctor responsible for RoboCop and Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction”) as a mouthy tv show presenter who asks “Why is America so robo-phobic?” (he is the only one managing to capture the spirit of the 1987 film). Michael Keaton (“Mr. Mom”) is here but is forgettable.

In the old “RoboCop”, we saw blood and guts but we also saw a board game named “Nuke ‘Em” intended for families and many other great satirical moments. The new movie opens up with a suicide bombing, is all about the ethics of putting a man through this and then seeing high-tech shootouts. It’s alright for what it is but this tale was more entertaining as when there was some comedy. Maybe you found the original too corny so maybe you’ll enjoy this one more but for me, it hit too close to home and was a fairly miserable affair.