RoboCop 2

The title refers to both the sequel and the rival, a new megadeath killing machine built on the same lines as the original, but employing the spinal column and brain of the chief villain, demonic drug king-cum-seer Cain (Noonan). But while RoboCop 2, the model, is a mean mother with a positive state-of-the-art kitchen of murderous gadgets, RoboCop 2 the movie is every bit as messy as a dog's breakfast. It still has all the old wit, the hellish vision of a Detroit plagued by everything from Little League robber gangs to bent or striking cops, and the dependable line-up of actors (Allen, O'Herlihy, Weller). What it doesn't have very much of is the original's energy, passion and remorseless narrative logic. Kershner's direction is never more than adequate, and the story seems full of unfulfilled promise and tangled threads. It's also deeply, disturbingly violent in a way which is more manipulative than gory; unlike the original, with its prophetic vision of the future, this sequel seems to spend too much time glorying in the very horrors it has outlined.