Robocop

...and so to the latest entry in the remake of violent 80's films dumbed down for today's cinema paying public. Everywhere you look in respect of this remake / relaunch of Robocop there are danger signs. The budget doubling from $60m to $120m. Delays in production. Darren Aronofsky (wisely) doing a runner. Arguments over the look of Robocop's get up and the tone (i.e. certificate) of the final product. Though perhaps the fact of who ended up in the lead role sums it all up; Crowe, Cruise, Depp, Fassbender were all considered. We've ended up with, er, Joel Kinnaman. Though he understandably towed the company line during marketing and press for the film, Brazilian director Jose Padilha has been widely reported as saying the making of the film was "hell", and the "worst experience of his life". Frankly I don't have much sympathy for Padilha (the film was already in a hell of a mess pre-production when he signed on) and both himself and the studio seem to have completely missed what made Paul Verhoeven's 1987 effort so memorable. For clarity the storyline isn't too different (in a crime-riddled Detroit of the future a cop is injured and a multinational corporation turns him into a part-man / part-robot crime fighting machine), but this is missing all the wit and satire that subtly counter balanced all the bloodshed of the original film. On the plus side, some of the nods to the first film find the mark (there's a neat reference in respect of buying something for a dollar) and Gary Oldman as the scientist / inventor behind Robocop gives a great performance that the film really doesn't deserve. Overall though there's nothing here to justify this remake and you're better off just re-watching the original or checking out Padilha's great Brazilian Elite Squad films instead. Rating: 4/10.

Her

Spike Jonze's name always appears to be everywhere and I had to double check that Her is actually only his fourth film as a director since his 1999 debut Bring John Malkovich. However in the intervening years (along with two other films as director) his polymathic tendencies have seen him writing, acting, producing and choreographing in various medium, so it's not a surprise to see he's on triple duties with Her as writer, producer and director. Set in 2025 (though the poster has Joaquin Phoenix looking like an 1970's F1 driver) the film follows Theodore Twombly (Phoenix), an introverted man who (loaded irony ahoy!) works for a company that writes heartfelt letters on behalf of other people. To help address his loneliness Twombly purchases a computer operating system with which he can interact on an emotional level. Before long however Twombly falls for "Samantha" (the tones belong to Scarlett Johansson) and Jonze's film explores whether or not humans and computers can ever really sustain an emotional (let along a physical) relationship. Acting wise this is great, with Phoenix perfectly capturing the temperament of someone experiencing love for the first time and then seemingly having it taken away, whilst Johansson's voice smoothly shifts from caring to cold in an instant (speaking of voices also look out for Jonze's himself as an amusingly sweary Alien in a computer game). Jonze spent well over a year in post editing sub plots, but the actual crux of the matter is still somewhat hit and miss. Though it does work in the fact we engage with the protagonists, Jonze's analysis of the situation (i.e. humans need to talk to each other more!) is hardly earth shattering news and the films ending is too conventional (and obvious) for what has transpired in the previous two hours. Even if you don't fully buy into the story, there is some superb cinematography to enjoy (2025 looks lovely, so good news people) and some nice wry moments to look out for on the social / aesthetic front, not least that in ten years time it appears the belt line of our trousers will be somewhere near our necks. Rating: 7/10.