Anthony's Film Review - RoboCop 2 (1990)

RoboCop 2 is intense, brutal, and a lot of fun to watch...

RoboCop 2 is one of those science-fiction movies that really does a good job presenting a bleak vision of the future. As with the first RoboCop, the setting is the city of Detroit truly gone to hell. You can see this with the opening scene of RoboCop 2. There are depictions of all sorts of criminal activity. One great example involves a man snatching an old woman's purse, only to be robbed by two prostitutes a short time later. Nearby, a weapons shop is being robbed, and one man amuses himself by testing a rocket launcher on an incoming police car. If that isn't enough, machine gun bullets are fired into the already demolished car.

In a situation like this, you need a strong, unstoppable machine to stop these crooks. That's where RoboCop enters the picture. He is the one driving the police car I just mentioned. Once he gets out, he becomes a cop you don't mess with. He proceeds to infiltrate a drug ring that is distributing a narcotic called Nuke. The drug lord of this group is a man named Cain. While RoboCop does make a few kills, he doesn't catch Cain. Furthermore, RoboCop is done in by, believe it or not, a teenage boy with a gun, who is also part of this drug ring.

This sets the stage for a story arc that involves RoboCop versus the drug lord Cain. As this is going on, other things are happening. The corporation OCP (Omni Consumer Products), which had built RoboCop out of the remaining brain tissue of officer Alex Murphy, is seeking to take over the entire city of Detroit without any government interference. There is also talk within the company about the development of another crime-fighting cyborg, the RoboCop 2. For this to happen, the brain of an appropriate individual would have to be used for the machine.

The movie from beginning to end is an engrossing mix of story and action. The plotlines related to RoboCop, Cain, OCP, and RoboCop 2 converge in rather interesting ways. I especially enjoyed how RoboCop, as tough as he is built, can still be quite vulnerable, as shown in scenes where he is forcefully taken apart and reprogrammed erroneously. As for the action, it's pretty violent. Expect to see gunshots with large bullet holes and blood, big explosions, and even the sadistic use of a scalpel on a living person. But that's what I love about the action. It doesn't care if you're squeamish.

RoboCop 2 is a fun ride from the start, and it gets better towards the end. The explosive action in the climax does not disappoint as elements from all of the plotlines come together. Aside from the cast and script, director Irvin Kershner, who previously directed The Empire Strikes Back, is perhaps the main reason RoboCop 2 works. He manages to deliver the story and action in just the right mix. To be honest, I did not see the original RoboCop movie before RoboCop 2. Thankfully, it's not necessary. I was still able to understand who RoboCop and Alex Murphy are, and nowhere did I feel lost. Overall, I was quite satisfied with this sci-fi action movie, enough to want to see more of RoboCop.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about RoboCop 2, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of RoboCop and RoboCop 3, plus the remake film RoboCop.