New RoboCop Character Portraits Introduce OmniCorp Execs And More
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In three months we’ll know if the Jose Padilha’s RoboCop will be a watered down remake of the science fiction film we all know and love, or if it is worth watching in its own right. Considering the landscape of modern Hollywood retreads, it will most likely be the former with loads of references to the original. Nevertheless, RoboCop could be a nice action film to enjoy during the doldrums of winter. Sony recently released four new character portraits.
The new film does feature a top-tier cast of actors including Michael Keaton as Raymond “Ray” Sellars, the villainous CEO of the OmniCorp. While he was the voice of Ken from Toy Story 3, he hasn’t really been in many movies of note since Out of Sight in 1998. It’s just good to see the Mr. Mom star in a movie again, even if he is the villain.
We also have a better look at Jay Baruchel as Thomas Pope, the head of marketing for the ubiquitous company. Baruchel usually plays the nice guy or funny buddy, so seeing him as a sleazy corporate executive type is refreshing and new. Thomas Pope’s job in the new film is to sell the country on RoboCop as a viable option for law enforcement.
Abbie Cornish plays Clara Murphy, wife Alex Murphy, who becomes RoboCop. The new film takes the source material in a different direction, with an emphasis on Murphy’s home and family life. In the original, Paul Verhoeven was more concerned with Murphy finding his identity, while Padilha wants to explore RoboCop in a domestic setting. Cornish looks to figure heavily in the story.
We finally get another look at Gary Oldman as Dr. Dennett Norton, the scientist who creates RoboCop, whom most believe will play a “father figure-type” to the newly re-born cyborg. The new film introduces the moral and ethical questions and implications of creating a machine from a man, with Norton at the center of this storm. We got a first look at him in the first batch of portraits Sony released a few weeks ago.
The other characters in that collection included Jackie Earle Haley as Maddox, Samuel L. Jackson as Pat Novak, and Jennifer Ehle as Liz Kline, the head of OmniCorp legal affairs. Sony has yet to release character portraits for Michael Kenneth Williams as Officer Jack Lewis, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Karen Dean, Detroit chief of police, and of course, Joel Kinnaman as Alex Murphy, AKA RoboCop, so look out for those in the upcoming weeks.
RoboCop takes place in Detroit in the year 2028. OmniCorp is at the center of robotic technology with drones patrolling the streets of cities around the world, and now they want to bring drone technology to the home front to patrol cities in the United States. After being wounded in a car bomb, Murphy, a street cop, becomes the half-robot/half-human.
RoboCop hits theaters everywhere in 3D and IMAX on February 12, 2014.
