Chas Blankenship

Despite it's long standing reputation, Fred Dekker's "RoboCop 3" is a film that, upon sincere thought and examination, demonstrates craftsmanship, has a sense of confident pacing and scope and does tell a story that feels like a natural progression from Verhoeven's 1987 original. Consider...the original "RoboCop" tells the story of a man-turned-machine rediscovering his humanity. "RoboCop 2" tells the story of that humanity being threatened to be buried by OCP or destroyed by the title-villain only for our hero to reclaim it with his final line. "RoboCop 3," to me, tells the story of the hero coming to terms with his place in the world...transcending the question of whether or not he's man or machine and embracing the mantle of being something more. Of being neither man or machine but rather man AND machine simultaneously. His friends call him Murphy...but his enemies call him RoboCop. The cast is an eclectic assortment of dynamic character performers giving terrific performances which range from the emotional to the compelling to the dastardly. Rip Torn, C.C.H. Pounder, Jill Hennessy, Bradley Whitford...even smaller roles played by Stephen Root, Jeff Garlin, Shane Black and Stanley Anderson...that portion of the cast alone is formidable. No one can take the role of RoboCop away from Peter Weller and that's more than understood. That said, Robert John Burke is a terrific choice in his own right, bringing as much soul to the part as his predecessor. The scene shared between him and Nikko, played by Remy Ryan, is intimate and humanist in a title many might wrongfully assume to be nothing more than action-schlock. You have a cyborg reflecting on the concept of keeping loved ones alive through memory...but this time rather than flashing back to his own memories to dwell on his tragedy, it's for the comfort and benefit of someone who's suffered loss of her own. It shows character growth as he comforts a child who's grown to appreciate Murphy past his public persona. That scene alone affords the film and Fred Dekker much more credit than critics have provided over the years. The filmmaking itself is also incredibly competent. One example of such craftsmanship is in the scene transitions, like the cut found between a scene involving Jill Hennessy's Dr. Lazarus and RoboCop and Lewis investigating a church. Take a step back to look at other transitions between scenes and you'll find a number of them to be thoughtful and well done. Understanding the budget restraints and limitations given Orion Pictures' financial situation at the time, the action set pieces are still handled quite confidently, such as RoboCop's grandiose entrance into the picture and other large-scale moments throughout. And the film still demonstrates real scope, telling its story that runs from the highest highs of the OCP headquarters down to the streets and into the sewers, covering a lot of ground with a sense of geography, placing our heroes in the underdog position while the villains sit atop their ivory tower in a very classic fairy-tale fashion. It's quite engaging to then watch RoboCop, a product of the very company determined to run the rebels out of their neighborhood, once again override his programming and appeal to his human side in order to join their ranks and take the fight to his corporate overlords. I honestly don't care if I'm in a minority here. Again, this is all in full understanding that the original "RoboCop" is far and away the stronger film. But "RoboCop 3" does not deserve the reputation it's been plagued with since its release. I truly believe that. There's so much to be found there and to be appreciated.