This is the remake* of a 1987 sci-fi movie of the same name.

    Set in 2028, the film begins when a Fox News-like channel, anchored* by Pat Novak (Samuel L. Jackson), covers the deployment* of the latest robotic drones* in a war-torn Tehran*.

    Novak praises how well robotic manufacturer OmniCorp’s huge ED-209 droids* and the man-sized EM-208s search a street for hidden enemies – that is, until some suicide bombers* go on the attack and the live broadcast is cut when a droid kills a child with a knife in hand. Back in the studio*, the news says how the U.S. Congress is fighting against efforts to deploy OmniCorp robots for homeland security, despite the efforts of the company’s CEO Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton).

    Meanwhile, in Detroit, policeman Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is trying to catch a gun-smuggling* ring with his partner Lewis (Michael K. Williams) but gets blown to pieces by a car bomb.

    Helped by top lawyer Liz Kline (Jennifer Ehle) and marketing manager Tom Pope (Jay Baruchel), Sellars persuades* one of OmniCorp’s top scientists, Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman), to turn Murphy into RoboCop.

    The rest of the plot is basically the same as the first movie in 1987, with Murphy cleaning up the city and then turning his eyes on those who tried to kill him.

    Different from the first movie, there’s a lot more time spent explaining the technical development of RoboCop in a factory in China, where Murphy tries to escape*. It’s also explained how Murphy’s brain chemistry is changed by medicines that makes him more of a machine and less of a feeling human being.

    A new subplot is centered round Murphy’s sad wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) and son David (John Paul Ruttan), memories of whom call back RoboCop’s humanity. It’s a pity that the remake changes Alex’s partner Lewis from a strong woman to a man, but the well-played character makes up for it a bit.

    Most viewers, who may walk into the theater only for the film’s action scenes, will not be disappointed.(SD-Agencies)