And so, shouldering our backpacks and steeling ourselves against the urge to look back, we leave the doldrums of the start-of-2014 release schedule. Farewell, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones! Farewell, I, Frankenstein! Farewell, (ugh) Vampire Academy! May our paths never cross again. (A fruitless wish in the case of Paranormal Activity -- the next installment is due in the summer.)
RoboCop -- the remake of Paul Verhoeven's politically acerbic, wildly satiric, and operatically violent science fiction action film -- is much better. How much better, though, is open for debate. While celebrating Brazilian director José Padilha's success in updating the tale of a noble cop killed in the line of duty who's transformed into an indomitable crime-fighting cyborg and literal corporate tool, the Cinefantastique team of Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and I differ on how well this new version addresses its social issues and political commentary. Bottom line: We're much happier debating the degree of goodness of a truly good film than hashing over how much a misfire sucks rubber donkey lungs.
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