19 Sep – As one of the more anticipated reboots of 2013, the revelation of the "RoboCop" suit should have incited nostalgia and received with much fanfare, except that it did not, due to the major makeover of its titular character's suit.
Photos by Comingsoon.net showed Joel Kinnaman ("The Killing") in the new black RoboCop suit, as filming started today in Toronto. It looks like Padilha has done away with the clunky metallic armour of the original suit, opting for a look more reminiscent of the Batman suit in Christopher Nolan's "Batman" series. While the new suit has a much more futuristic vibe to it and looks much easier to move in, fans of the original are scandalized, with comments like "Why change a design so perfect and distinct?" from Jack Giroux of Film School Rejects being let loose.
Not only that, Giroux went on to add, "You can keep the original suit without making your remake a carbon copy. Changing "RoboCop"'s suit is like getting rid of Jason's hockey mask or Freddy Krueger's whole getup. It just doesn't feel right. People, even non-nerds, know what "RoboCop" looks like, so why change that when you're attempting to cash in on the familiar?"
The new "RoboCop" takes place in the year 2028, where multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the centre of robot technology. Their drones have seen much success in wars overseas, which is why they want to bring this technology back home. Their perfect test subject comes in the form of Alex Murphy (Kinnaman), a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit. After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex's life and returns him to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but now Murphy has to deal with issues that do not plague a regular man.
Padilha is directing the film with an ensemble cast line-up that features Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson and Abbie Cornish alongside Kinnaman. "Robocop" is set to hit theatres in August of 2013.
