RoboCop (1987)

Another one of those movies that I never got around to seeing. Mostly because I assumed I wouldn't like it. I was right.

It's not just that it's too violent. The "satire" (as it were) boils down to cynicism and mean-spiritedness. And the movie indulges in every excess imaginable. You showed me this movie and told me Basic Instinct and Showgirls were in Paul Verhoeven's future, I'd easily believe it. I don't know why this hack had the successful career he did.

The one part of the movie I liked was ironically in the last scene. When Directive 4 in his programming is tripping RoboCop up (he can't arrest the people in charge of the police), once the Old Man fires Dick Jones, he thanks the Old Man and blows Jones away. And while part of me finds that moment both funny and cathartic, it goes right back to the movie being so damn negative about every single aspect of humanity.

The movie seems stupid and badly written in places. The irony is I'm pretty sure that's deliberate, and part of the satire. It annoyed me, but I can't really penalize the dumbness for that reason either.

So I don't care how big a following this has. It's not my jam. **.