Movie Review – RoboCop 2 (1990)

Back in 1987, RoboCop thrilled audiences with its tale of a dead police officer brought back to life as a cyborg, and his quest for revenge against the criminals who killed him.

1990’s RoboCop 2 continues the story established in the first film.

Set a not long after the events in the first film, RoboCop 2 continues the story with OCP‘s progress towards taking over most of the city of Detroit, Michigan, and converting it into “Delta City.”  OCP is also working towards the next model in the “RoboCop” line of cyborg police units.  In addition to the story of OCP, RoboCop 2 also wages war on drugs.  The drug in this film is Nuke, a cheap and readily available drug that’s common on the streets of Detroit.

Directed by Ivan Kershner, RoboCop 2 returns many of the same cast members from the first RoboCop film.  Peter Weller reprises his role as Alex Murphy / RoboCop.  The same goes true for Nancy Allen in the role of Officer Anne Lewis, Dan O’Herlihy as “The Old Man,” Felton Perry as OCP vice president Donald Johnson, and Robert DoQui as Sgt. Reed.

New faces in RoboCop 2 include Belinda Bauer as Dr. Juliette Faxx, Tom Noonan as criminal leader Cain, and Gabriel Damon as Hob, a 12-year-old kid and Cain’s assistant.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

RoboCop 2 begins with some satirical television commercials along with some news stories.  One of the news stories is about the assassination of the Surgeon General as he gives a news conference about the dangers of Nuke, a new and wildly popular designer drug.  This is followed by a message from Cain (Tom Noonan), a terrorist and the Nuke cult leader.

We also learn that most of the Detroit police officers are on strike.  They’re upset that Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has cut their salaries and cancelled their pension plan.  This is leaving the already dangerous city prone to even more criminal activity.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

Crime is rampant throughout the city of Detroit.  A homeless woman is robbed by a man who is then beaten and robbed by two prostitutes.  An armed gang then attacks a gun store.  They arm themselves with lots of firepower and kill the shop’s owner.  Just as it seems like they’ll get away with the robbery and murder, along comes a police car.  Apparently not *all* of the cops are on strike.  The armed robbers use a rocket launcher and attack the car twice.  They then open fire with their assault rifles.  But the police officer is not dead.  Out steps RoboCop (Peter Weller), and he attacks and kills most the robbers.  RoboCop finds Nuke on the last robber, but he doesn’t know where the drug is made.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

RoboCop then goes to where the robber claims that he purchased the Nuke drugs.  The cyborg police officer breaks his way into the Nuke distribution center.  He makes his way into the interior of the building and witnesses workers preparing more Nuke for distribution.  When RoboCop announces his presence and tries to arrest the people, the security guards open fire.  There’s a gun battle as RoboCop kills the bad guys while also protecting the innocent.  Cain is there but he’s able to get away.  The same is true for Hob (Gabriel Damon), a 12-year-old kid who serves as Cain’s assistant.

Officer Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) also arrives at the distribution center, and she helps take down some of the gunmen.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

The next day, RoboCop makes another patrol past the home of Ellen Murphy (Angie Bolling), Alex Murhpy’s widowed wife.  Apparently RoboCop does this on an almost daily basis, and it’s infuriating Ellen.  She takes her complaints to the police department, and OCP makes RoboCop “understand” that he’s a machine and not Alex Murphy.  When Ellen confronts RoboCop at the police station, RoboCop tells her that he is a machine.  Her husband is dead.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

At OCP’s headquarters, Detroit Mayor Marvin Kuzak (Willard E. Pugh) has a meeting with OCP’s chairman, The Old Man (Dan O’Herlihy), and vice president Donald Johnson (Felton Perry).  The city is behind on paying its debt to OCP, and Mayor Kuzak learns that the company is ready to start foreclosing on the city’s assets.  It’s all part of the agreement that the mayor foolishly signed a while ago.  Kuzak is furious with The Old Man’s intentions, but unless he can pay off the debt in time, then there’s nothing that he can do to stop OCP and its plans for “Delta City.”

After the meeting with Mayor Kuzak, The Old Man and Johnson have a meeting with OCP’s Security Concepts division, the team that created RoboCop.  The division has been sinking millions of dollars into the next version of the crime-fighting cyborg, but they have nothing but failure to show for it.  Once the new RoboCop 2 units become operational, all of the cyborgs self-destruct and commit suicide once they realize what they’ve really become.  It’s discussed that although the one successful RoboCop was created from a police officer, a family man with a strong sense of duty, the other police officer volunteers don’t have those same morals and values.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

Dr. Juliette Faxx (Belinda Bauer), a company psychologist, convinces The Old Man to take a different approach to selecting candidates, something that she would gladly supervise.  Her idea of an ideal candidate isn’t a police officer but rather a highly experienced criminal, somebody with a tremendous amount of drive and self-motivation.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

One evening Robocop and Anne Lewis are conducting reconnaissance on Hob.  They watch as the boy enters an arcade and buys information from Officer Duffy (Stephen Lee), a corrupt cop who is also hooked on Nuke.  Duffy sells him information detailing routes of police cars, allowing the criminals to easily snipe and assassinate the cops.  RoboCop and Lewis raid the arcade.  Duffy is trapped in the arcade, and RoboCop beats and interrogates him.  Beaten, Duffy finally reveals that Cain is hiding at the old sludge plant at River Rouge.  Hob and his companion try to flee, but they’re stopped by Lewis.  They fight her and manage to escape.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

RoboCop goes by himself and arrives at the old sludge plant at River Rouge.  The Nuke clan is waiting for him inside of the plant.  Hob uses a machine gun to shoot off Robo’s hand, and another person uses an electrical weapon to weaken the cyborg.  Cain taunts RoboCop, but the cyborg tries to fight back.  He’s quickly taken down by the gang and then secured to a table.  The gang then uses heavy tools and disassembles RoboCop.  They later drive to the police station and dump his parts on the street.

The damage to RoboCop is critical, and the OCP representative is reluctant to authorize the repair bill.  This upsets the cops but there’s little that they can do about it.  It’s all up to OCP and if they wish to repair RoboCop.

Meanwhile, Officer Duffy is hanging out with Hob and the gang when they knock him unconscious.  He awakens strapped to a gurney and being wheeled into an operating room at an abandoned hospital.  Cain makes an example of Duffy and his recklessness that brought RoboCop into Cain’s lair.  The officer is awake and alert when he’s executed by vivisection, a bloody and horrific process.

At OCP, Douglas Johnson meets with The Old Man and informs him that Dr. Faxx is screening criminals and murders to be the next version of RoboCop 2.  He’s not concerned about that or the fact that Dr. Faxx wants to keep RoboCop offline.  As long as the ultimate police weapon is not a threat, then crime will continue to rise and Detroit will not be able to pay back its debt that much sooner.  It turns out that Dr. Faxx already has a solution for how to handle the broken RoboCop and the public relations image for the company.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

OCP spends the money to repair RoboCop and make him functional again.  But as we see, Dr. Faxx brainwashes RoboCop and makes the cyborg convince himself that he’s a machine and not a human being.  She then uploads a new set of directives for the crime fighter.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

The police officers are joyful when they see that RoboCop is back in action.  Some of them are a bit suspicious though when RoboCop’s personality seems a bit chipper and different.  This is more evident when RoboCop and Anne Lewis respond to a call of an electronics store being robbed.  RoboCop does not use deadly force against the armed robber, making Lewis the one who shoots and kills him.  Robo is then mocked by the children who were robbing the store, and they all run away from the cops.

RoboCop is then on patrol and insists on following the speed limit, setting an example for the other drivers.  He then stops children from playing in a broken fire hydrant.  The cyborg then uses his pistol to stop a man from smoking a cigarette.  He’s not doing anything about major crimes but enforcing the minor laws.

Officer Lewis is convinced that OCP did something to RoboCop when they repaired him, and it’s confirmed back at the police station.  They hook a computer up to Robo and discover the hundreds of extra directives added by OCP.  Unfortunately, they do not have the technology to erase or modify them.  The only thing that could at that point is basically a jolt of electricity.  RoboCop hears this and goes outside and grabs a power transformer, zapping himself with a tremendous amount of electricity.  It works and all of the directives are erased.  RoboCop is now a rogue officer.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

The police officers who were striking are inspired by RoboCop’s self-sacrifice.  They rally behind him and all head out to raid Cain’s hideout at the old sludge plant.  A fierce gun battle takes place between the cops and the criminals.  At one point Cain escapes while driving an armored van, but RoboCop grabs a hold of it and goes on a wild ride.  Cain ultimately knocks him off the van, but Robo grabs a motorcycle and quickly gives chase.  He passes Cain and then turns around and plays “chicken.”  The two vehicles crash together and RoboCop launches himself through Cain’s windshield, attacking him and causing his van to crash.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

Cain is rushed to a hospital where a team of doctors save his life, but he’s on life support and in critical condition.  Dr. Faxx has been studying his profile and believes that Cain will be a perfect candidate for the RoboCop 2 program.  She stops his life support and kills him.  The doctors rush to perform an operation that preserves Cain’s brain and spinal cord before they’re useless.

With Cain gone, Hob takes control of the Nuke cult.  Mayor Kuzak is hosting a televised fund raiser, but it’s a flop and people aren’t donating anywhere near as much money as they need to pay off OCP.  Hob has Angie, his assistant, call the mayor and have him meet with Hob to make a deal to save his city.

At OCP, the team successfully creates RoboCop 2 with the brain from Cain.  As Dr. Faxx predicted, the criminal version of the cyborg is very determined to continue living as a machine.  She taunts him with Nuke and uses this to control Cain, making him do whatever she commands.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

Mayor Kuzak meets with the young crime lord in an abandoned warehouse.  The mayor’s assistant smells a trap, but Kuzak insists on meeting with Hob.  Hob offers to give Kuzak $50 million to pay off OCP and basically save the city.  It’s well in excess of the $37 million and change that the city actually owes.  All that Hob wants in exchange is for the police department to look the other way when it comes to Nuke.

OCP is aware of this secret meeting and they send their newest weapon, RoboCain, to kill everybody.  The mighty death machine arrives in the warehouse and proceeds to shoot and kill everybody it finds.  Mayor Kuzak’s assistants are killed, but the mayor is able to escape through the sewer system.  Angie is killed when RoboCain breaks her neck.  Hob tries to hide in a trailer, but RoboCain shoots it full of holes.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

By the time that RoboCop arrives at the warehouse, RoboCain is gone.  He discovers that Hob is bloody and full of bullet holes.  Hob tells him that it was Cain who did this damage.  The boy then dies in front of RoboCop.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

That night, OCP holds a news conference at its headquarters.  The Old Man gives a small speech before showing off a detailed model of “Delta City.”  Mayor Kuzak arrives and tries to create a scene, but The Old Man puts him in his place.  The Old Man then shows off RoboCop 2 (RoboCain).  The cyborg stands at attention until The Old Man takes out a container of Nuke to show the crowd.  This quickly gets RoboCain’s attention, and the cyborg tries to snatch the container from The Old Man.  Dr. Faxx steps forward and uses a remote control to make sure that RoboCain’s weapon systems are inactive, but there’s nothing that they can do about RoboCain’s sudden rage.

RoboCop shows up in the auditorium with an assault rifle.  RoboCain snatches the remote control and actives its weapons.  It then starts shooting at RoboCop and all the police officers.  The survivors flee out of the building as the two cyborgs fight each other.  The fight takes them to an underground area and then to the outside streets.  RoboCop seems to be unable to stop RoboCain as he continues shooting and attacking all police officers and their vehicles.

But RoboCain has a weakness.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – (c) Orion Pictures

While the evil cyborg is shooting at cops, RoboCop goes back inside and retrieves the container of Nuke.  He then has Officer Lewis give him the drug.  While RoboCain is high on the super concentrated version of the drug, RoboCop climbs onto a van and then jumps on top of RoboCain.  He then rips out the cyborg’s brain and then smashes it against the pavement, killing RoboCain.

It looks like OCP is going to be in serious trouble this time.  RoboCop 2 ends as Donald Johnson convinces The Old Man to have Dr. Faxx take the fall for the RoboCop 2 program.  He agrees and the whole blame is dumped on Dr. Juliette Faxx.

So is RoboCop 2 a good movie?

Not really.

While the violence is up to par with the first RoboCop film, RoboCop 2 has several negative issues with its story and the characters.

For starters, there is no emotion with RoboCop and his personality of slain police officer Alex Murphy.  In this movie it seems like the cyborg is a machine only, and not a human being.  He’s virtually all robot in this film the way that he speaks and acts.  That clash between human and machine was one of the solid points in the first film.  Here it’s basically non-existent.

What’s the deal with so many villains this time?

The two main villains are Cain and Hob.  Dr. Juliette Faxx is evil with her ways, and The Old Man and Donald Johnson show off their sinister sides as well.  And there’s Officer Duffy, the corrupt cop who was also addicted to Nuke.  Hell, even Mayor Kuzak was corrupt and he tried to make a financial deal with Hob.  Besides Officer Anne Lewis and RoboCop, were any of the characters honest in this movie?

It seemed to be a poor decision to have a 12-year-old boy as not only a villain, but also a major character.  I know that some kids are pretty smart, but this seemed a bit over-the-top with the way that Hob easily ran the drug cult.  He’s a cold blooded killer yet we’re supposed to feel sorry for him in his death scene?  Yeah, right.

Another unbelievable character was Detroit Mayor Kuzak.  The character seemed to be way too young to be the mayor of a major city, and his gullibility was way too obvious.  It’s hard to believe that he could have been elected to office, even in an incredibly corrupt system as that one.

Did RoboCop 2 get anything right?

I liked the idea of OCP working on a new version of the RoboCop program.  RoboCain was an interesting cyborg, and his CGI face was pretty creepy.  That was a point in time when computer animation was starting to make appearances in films.

The war on drugs seemed pretty obvious considering that this film was released in 1990.  The late 1980s were big with the highly publicised war on drugs and President Reagan’s “Just say no!” campaign.  It was just a matter of time before we’d see that theme being used as plots in movies.

Most of the action scenes were pretty good, and there’s plenty of gun violence and blood to satisfy most action fans.  However, the final battle scene between RoboCop and RoboCain seemed to be a little bit cheesy with the stop-motion animation.  It was pretty obvious that we were watching special effects and not two fierce cyborgs.

RoboCop 2 (1990) – movie trailer

As a whole, RoboCop 2 does an okay job continuing the story established in the first film, but the film itself is fairly disappointing.

Casey Wong – “On the international scene, the Amazon nuclear facility has blown its stack, irradiating the world’s largest rain forest. Environmentalists are calling it a disaster.”
Jess Perkins – “But don’t they always.”

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[Robocop enters a busy arcade]
RoboCop – “Isn’t this a school day?”

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Cain – “You want me?”
RoboCop – “Dead or alive.”
Cain – “One of us must die.”
RoboCop – “Dead, then.”

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RoboCop – “Waste makes haste. For time is fleeting. A rolling stone is worth two in the bush.”
Boy – “Go fuck a refrigerator, pecker neck!”
RoboCop – “Bad language makes for bad feelings.”

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Customer – “Hey! Cops! And they ain’t carryin’ no picket signs!”
Vendor – “They’re goin’ to kick somebody’s ass!”