RoboCop 2 is a picture of considerable violence and considerably diminished satirical intelligence, a sequel that amplifies the original's most visceral elements while losing the tonal precision and the coherence that made Verhoeven's film a work of satirical art. Irvin Kershner's 1990 follow-up is not without its pleasures: Weller's performance retains its authority, the stop-motion animation of the RoboCop 2 unit is technically impressive, and Frank Miller's screenplay contains enough satirical ideas to give the picture a thematic connection to its predecessor. But the execution is consistently less disciplined than the original's, and the escalating violence tips from deliberate excess into a gratuitousness that the satire cannot fully contain.
At a Glance
Director: Irvin Kershner
Runtime: 117 minutes
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan
Release: 1990
Critics Rating: ★★ (2/5 stars, a darker sequel that loses the original's satirical precision)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, entertaining in its excess but a clear step down)
Review Breakdown
Plot
Detroit is in crisis: the city is bankrupt, OCP is withholding police funding to force a default that will allow them to foreclose and redevelop the city, and a new drug called Nuke is flooding the streets, distributed by a cult led by the charismatic criminal Cain. RoboCop must navigate the drug war while OCP attempts to replace him with a new model built around Cain's brain. Miller's screenplay introduces more satirical targets than the original but develops none of them with the consistency or intelligence that the original's more focused argument achieved, and the result is a picture whose satirical ambitions exceed its execution. The decision to use Cain's brain as the basis for RoboCop 2 is the screenplay's most pointed observation, a direct parallel to the original's use of Murphy's body that the film does not develop with the depth the idea deserves. The city's bankruptcy and OCP's deliberate withholding of police funding extends the original's privatisation critique with a specificity that gives the political argument a context, even if the execution does not match the original's precision.
Characters
Weller's RoboCop is given more complexity here, his programming having been altered by OCP to make him more compliant and less effective, and his gradual reassertion of his original identity gives the picture its most credible arc. Tom Noonan's Cain is the most interesting new character, a drug lord of charisma and philosophical conviction whose cult-leader status gives the villain a dimension that Boddicker's more straightforward criminality did not attempt. Weller remains the franchise's most important asset, and his performance gives the picture an authority that the screenplay's inconsistencies would otherwise undermine. Noonan's Cain is the most valuable new addition, a villain of presence whose transformation into RoboCop 2 is the most effective development. Dan O'Herlihy's Old Man is given more screen time, his portrayal of OCP's founder as a figure of corporate authority and moral blindness giving the satirical argument its most effectively drawn human embodiment. Nancy Allen's Lewis is given less to do than in the original, her character's function reduced to providing RoboCop with a human ally rather than the more fully realised partnership that the first film established.
Tone
Kershner pitches the picture at a register of darker and more relentless violence than the original, removing the satirical lightness that gave Verhoeven's film its most effective passages. The most effective tonal passages are those involving RoboCop's programming crisis, which give the character a vulnerability and a confusion that the original's more assured mechanical authority did not allow. The drug cult sequences have a surreal quality that connects them to the original's satirical register, but the overall tonal management lacks the precision that Verhoeven brought to the material. The picture's most significant tonal failure is its inability to find a consistent register between the original's darkly comic satire and a more straightforward action sequel.
Meaning / Themes
The parallel between OCP's use of Cain's brain to power RoboCop 2 and the original's use of Murphy's body to power RoboCop is the most pointed satirical observation, suggesting that corporate power will exploit any human material available to it, criminal or otherwise. The city's bankruptcy and OCP's deliberate withholding of police funding extends the original's privatisation critique with a specificity that gives the political argument a context, even if the execution does not match the original's satirical precision.
Direction
Kershner's direction is competent rather than distinctive, maintaining a basic visual coherence without achieving the tonal precision or the satirical intelligence of Verhoeven's original. The RoboCop 2 unit's stop-motion animation is the most impressive technical achievement, giving the climactic battle a physical specificity that the era's digital effects could not have provided. Leonard Rosenman's score replaces Poledouris's original with a more conventional orchestral approach that suits the darker register without achieving the original's compositional distinctiveness.
Cultural Reception
RoboCop 2 received mixed reviews on its release and was a moderate commercial success, grossing over $45 million in North America. Critics noted the diminished satirical intelligence and the escalating violence while acknowledging Weller's continued authority and Noonan's effective villain. It is now regarded as a competent but significantly diminished sequel, a picture whose achievements are real but whose failure to replicate the original's tonal precision makes it a lesser work in almost every measurable respect.
Who Should Watch
Franchise followers who want to see Weller's RoboCop in a second outing and viewers with a tolerance for the franchise's more visceral elements. RoboCop 2 delivers more of the original's most visceral elements while losing most of its satirical intelligence, and those who approach it with appropriately adjusted expectations will find it a more rewarding experience than its reputation suggests.
Final Verdict: A darker and more violent sequel that amplifies the original's most visceral elements while losing the tonal precision and coherence that made Verhoeven's film a work of satirical art. Weller's performance retains its authority and Noonan's Cain is the franchise's most interesting new villain since Boddicker. Everything else is a reminder that the original's achievement depended on a satirical intelligence the sequel does not replicate.
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