RoboCop (2014)

This RoboCop asks smarter questions than the 1987 original and has a lot less fun asking them. José Padilha’s remake swaps the old satire for long talks about free will, and the PG-13 action looks like a video game somebody else is playing. The black suit is sleek. It’s also so clean you forget there’s a person inside. One scene is as strong as anything in the franchise: Dr. Norton showing Alex Murphy how little of his old body is left, and Joel Kinnaman letting the horror sink in without a word. Gary Oldman is terrific as the scientist who keeps saying yes to the wrong boss. Michael Keaton plays Sellars as a grinning CEO who talks like a product launch. Samuel L. Jackson’s TV rants are the only jokes, and they feel bolted on. It made $242.7 million worldwide on a reported $100 to $130 million. A 5.0 because the ideas are sharp and the movie isn’t. $67.88 says you spray-paint something in your garage matte black this weekend and insist it’s the tactical version.

What works: Gary Oldman gives the film a conscience, and the scene where Murphy sees what’s left of himself is genuinely haunting.

What doesn’t: The PG-13 action is weightless, and the satire that made the original a classic shrinks to a few TV rants.

Who it’s for: Viewers who want a serious, talky sci-fi drama about who really controls a machine with a man inside.