I was very briefly exit polled after seeing "Robocop". The first question was to rate the movie as 'Excellent', 'Very Good', 'Good', 'Fair', or 'Poor'. I said "Good." The second question was: "Would you recommend it to a friend?" My answer: "Depends on the friend." Final question: "Did it meet your expectations?" The answer was "Yes." I think this last question was the most important. There was some complaint in the fan community that it was a mistake to make the movie PG-13, and that it was dumbing down what many people liked about the original. I'm not unsympathetic to these claims, but, bearing them in mind, I went into "Robocop" expecting a competent, likely forgettable action film. In this regard it met my expectations, so I was happy with it.
The film does have its issues. The final third of the film in particular felt a bit rushed. I've seen enough films with seemingly benevolent big corporations to know that the company behind Robocop would turn out to be evil to some degree, but the film itself did nothing to foreshadow this. They almost wait until the main plot appears to be finished before revealing the sinister natures of certain characters, making the development feel tacked on as an excuse to stage the film's climax. If the lead character had discovered this deception along with the audience, it would have been a plot twist, worthy of being hidden for so long. Instead, the reveal is done in a scene with the villains talking amongst themselves. If this is how the film wanted to stage the reveal, it could have gained some dramatic tension by placing the reveal much earlier in the film.
None of this gets in the way of some decent action scenes. While none of the film's major set pieces are especially groundbreaking, they get the job done and provide basic entertainment. The most entertaining moments, however, are when Samuel L. Jackson is on screen, portraying a political pundit with his own television show. Admittedly, Jackson doesn't bring anything new to this role; he shouts and swears like we've seen him do several time before, but his role is a comedic one and it didn't bother me that he was repeating himself. He may shout and swear in a lot of his movies, but there are few who can do it better.
I don't have that much to say about this film. It was marginally entertaining while I was watching it, but it's even more forgettable than most. There were some funny moments, but not as many as I would have liked. Many of the jokes depended on explicit language to make them funny. This can earn laughs in the moment, but when there is little true cleverness behind a joke, it also leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The film follows the typical beats one finds in a romantic comedy, but oftentimes they feel obligatory (they always are, but the movie should be able to hide that). When the main couple breaks up, there seems to be little motivation for it. It just happens because that is what's supposed to happen at that point in the movie. The same is true of their predictable reconciliation at the end. As I mentioned in my review of "That Awkward Moment", movies like this are like comfort food. We don't expect or want them to reinvent the wheel. We just want them to throw a fresh coat of paint on the concept. "About Last Night" doesn't even do that.
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