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With: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Belinda Bauer, Dan O'Herlihy, Felton Perry, Tom Noonan, Willard E. Pugh, Gabriel Damon, Galyn Görg, Stephen Lee, Robert DoQui, Ken Lerner, Jeff McCarthy, John Doolittle, Angie Bolling, Brandon Smith, Thomas Rosales Jr., Tzi Ma, Wanda De Jesus, George Cheung, Phil Rubenstein, Michael Medeiros, Roger Aaron Brown, Mark Rolston
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Written by: Walon Green, Frank Miller
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Directed by: Irvin Kershner
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MPAA Rating: R
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Running Time: 117
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Date: 06/22/1990
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Bot Flashes
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Robocop 2 (1990) brought director Irvin Kershner back into the game. His previous two films had been sci-fi/action sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and the unofficial James Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983). So he was a natural to direct the new Robocop film. With a script by co-written by comic book legend Frank Miller ("The Dark Knight Returns"), and Walon Green (The Wild Bunch) how could it go wrong?
Most people complained of excess violence and a lack of humanity. But that was exactly the point. If Verhoeven's original cut of Robocop had been released in theaters, the violence in Robocop 2 wouldn't have been an issue.
In this film, OCP moves to foreclose on the city of Detroit for its nearly $40 million debt. The city is in the grip of a drug epidemic, addicted to the synthetic "nuke." Of course, OCP both makes the drug and pays for the cops who are supposed to wipe it out. While the entire police force is on strike, only Robocop (Weller) and Lewis (Allen) are on patrol.
So OCP decides it's time to make another Robocop, one they can control a little easier. When a sadistic drug lord with a Jesus complex (Tom Noonan) dies, his brain becomes the likely candidate. The resulting machine wakes up addicted to the drug and goes on a frightening rampage.
Like the first film, Robocop 2 has its share of satiric TV commercials and news reports. Of course, it's not really as surprising or as fresh as the original, but it's still a worthy sequel.
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