Frankenstein Mechanics: ROBOCOP Trailer Aims For The Grim N' Gritty

I am not a child of the 80s. Per se. I was born in the 80s, but was far too young to see and to appreciate Paul Verhoeven's satirical actioner Robocop in its heyday. By the time my adolescence rolled around the original's reputation had already been marred by sloppy sequels and a sub-bar TV Show. My memories of the actual film are vague at best as it's one I haven't had the desire to revisit in my adult years.

So with that, I'm going into José Padilha's remake with eyes that aren't fresh, that are aware of the original, but certainly not filtered with a lot of spite or hesitation towards this new take. Either a new fan or old, the remake's first trailer is nothing to get excited about. There's a lot of bang. There's a lot of boom. Much gravitas. A lot of posturing. It's grim and it's gritty. It looks a lot like the world of Nolan's Batman, of Blomkamp's District 9. It's what we keep expecting in all our weary cynicism  --  and keep getting  --  with these kinds of tentpoles. But, hey it's just a trailer. Trailers can be deceiving. The various suits don't look awful. Joel Kinnaman as Robocop nee Alex Murphy is a Frankenstein's monster. His maker is Gary Oldman (or is it society itself?), playing to the eccentric type he's settled into during these franchise years of his career. Samuel L. Jackson is serious, and I sure liked seeing Michael Keaton on screen. Hey, he could still play Batman couldn't he? Okay enough chit chat. Check out the trailer below.

Robocop rolls out across the world starting January 30, 2014. It hits the states on February 7.