good cop / bad cop
in this week's installment of good cop/bad cop we'll be examining that hella futuristic policing machine from the not-too-distant-but-kinda-getting-distant past, Robocop.
a random fit of nostalgia forced me to rent Robocop last week; Robocop being one of the more beloved films of my boyhood. when i was six/seven years old Robocop could do no wrong. how could he? he's a cop! and a robot! he's a robotic cop!
well, i've grown up a bit since 1986.
and i can tell you now, without reservation, that Robocop, while still being fairly "robo", is one sorry ass excuse for a cop.
during the course of his namesake film he only arrests ONE PERSON.
who he later murders.
actually, that's what Robocop is. a murderer.
robbery in progress? no problem.
Robocop will walk in, murder the guy, and march right back out with machine-like efficiency.
no questioning witnesses.
no investigating the scene.
no clues. no taking notes.
he doesn't even call the real cops to come and pick up the suspects' still-room-temperature corpse.
it's not like he's killing innocents or anything, just obvious misfits and bad guys, but still; murdering bad guys isn't a cop's job, arresting them and bringing them before a court of the law is.
murdering bad guys is a vigilante's job.
sure he lives in the police station.
and drives around in a cop car.
and has the word cop in his name.
but that doesn't change the fact that he's just an armoured, grudge carrying, murderous, robotic vigilante.
his job at the police station is purely coincidental.
he does not once use handcuffs in this movie.
as mentioned before, he does read one man his rights, but he does this while beating the man and repeatedly tossing him through randomly placed panes of glass.
i'm not saying any of this makes Robocop less cool.
Robocop is infinitley cool.
i'm just saying it makes him a bad cop, in the technical sense of the word.
or maybe not. maybe the Codes of Policing change for an officer once he dies and becomes roughly 85% mechanical.
maybe murdering everyone and leaving the mess are a part of his Robotic Rights.
and who am i to question something i couldn't possibly understand?
anyway, in closing, Robocop = bad cop.
i'm sorry if this disappoints you.
if you want some good cop action, rent Serpico.
a random fit of nostalgia forced me to rent Robocop last week; Robocop being one of the more beloved films of my boyhood. when i was six/seven years old Robocop could do no wrong. how could he? he's a cop! and a robot! he's a robotic cop!
well, i've grown up a bit since 1986.
and i can tell you now, without reservation, that Robocop, while still being fairly "robo", is one sorry ass excuse for a cop.
during the course of his namesake film he only arrests ONE PERSON.
who he later murders.
actually, that's what Robocop is. a murderer.
robbery in progress? no problem.
Robocop will walk in, murder the guy, and march right back out with machine-like efficiency.
no questioning witnesses.
no investigating the scene.
no clues. no taking notes.
he doesn't even call the real cops to come and pick up the suspects' still-room-temperature corpse.
it's not like he's killing innocents or anything, just obvious misfits and bad guys, but still; murdering bad guys isn't a cop's job, arresting them and bringing them before a court of the law is.
murdering bad guys is a vigilante's job.
sure he lives in the police station.
and drives around in a cop car.
and has the word cop in his name.
but that doesn't change the fact that he's just an armoured, grudge carrying, murderous, robotic vigilante.
his job at the police station is purely coincidental.
he does not once use handcuffs in this movie.
as mentioned before, he does read one man his rights, but he does this while beating the man and repeatedly tossing him through randomly placed panes of glass.
i'm not saying any of this makes Robocop less cool.
Robocop is infinitley cool.
i'm just saying it makes him a bad cop, in the technical sense of the word.
or maybe not. maybe the Codes of Policing change for an officer once he dies and becomes roughly 85% mechanical.
maybe murdering everyone and leaving the mess are a part of his Robotic Rights.
and who am i to question something i couldn't possibly understand?
anyway, in closing, Robocop = bad cop.
i'm sorry if this disappoints you.
if you want some good cop action, rent Serpico.
posted by mike | 4:19 PM
3 Comments:
I think they meant Robocop to satirical. But then again maybe they just got off on roboticized pulverisation. I know I do. CRUSH KILL DESTROY.
i agree that Robocop is defininently a rich satire of those heady, cocaine-fueled years we call the 80's, i just think a tiny smidge of actual police work could have livened the script up a bit. no wait. that would have made it sensible. and boring. hey! remember when that guys gets covered in toxic ooze and is instantly mutated and then gets splattered on that dudes windsheild? i love that sound!
That was definitely my favorite part/sound of/in the movie!!!And you are right it would have been boring.
Post a Comment
<< Home