Irvin Kershner
Robocop 2

"Robocop 2", sequel to the acclaimed "Robocop" by Paul Verhoeven, arrives three years after the first film in the series. This time the direction is handled by the experienced Irvin Kershner (his resume includes "Star Wars - Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back" from 1980), while the two main actors (Peter Weller as Murphy/Robocop and Nancy Allen as his work partner Lewis) are confirmed in their respective roles.

This time the mission of the heroic cyborg is to save beloved Detroit from a new type of drug, Nuke, which is injected through the neck. The new substance is trafficked in the city by the menacing criminal Cain (the talented Tom Noonan, also in "Last Action Hero") who, after being killed by Robocop, is transformed into an even larger and more menacing cyborg than the good Murphy, named "Robocop 2" himself. The new robot will then escape the control of its evil creator, Dr. Faxx (the beautiful Belinda Bauer, also in "Flashdance"), and will engage in an all-out revenge war with the "original."

The original screenplay of the film was once again written by Frank Miller (as for the first episode), but serious problems arose when Miller became heavily upset following radical, never justified changes to his work. This decision was the film's demise. It resulted in a rather confused mishmash plot-wise, where we find the child/dealer/criminal Hob, the charming Angie, the manic mayor, and the classic corrupt advisor who sells out to the filthy O.C.P.

Of course, the film contains numerous must-see scenes for fans of the world's most famous robo-cop, like the clarifying encounter with Murphy's wife, Ellen, where he lies to her by saying he is simply a machine built to honor her husband's death. Or the amusing sequences where the cyborg goes crazy after O.C.P. inserts more than two hundred new directives into its database (including "teaching a group of boy scouts to start a fire"), in an attempt to drive him insane and lead to self-destruction. The plot then unfolds slowly and awkwardly, Weller seems less on form (and less convinced) than in the previous film, Allen has a very, too marginal role, and the "bad kid" is frankly improbable. Noteworthy, however, is Robocop 2 (really well designed and animated).

For the superfans of the film, setting aside the soporific sequel Robocop 3, an absolute must-see is "Robocop - Prime Directives", the long-requested third sequel of which very few are aware. It is a Canadian production, unfortunately never broadcast in Italy; but you can find it in English, French, and with Spanish subtitles. It's a four-part television film, each an hour and a half, that narrates the events of Robocop ten years after his creation. Played by a very talented semi-unknown actor, Page Fletcher, the film features an aged and obsolete Robocop, even fighting against his own son James, who in the meantime has become a wicked O.C.P. executive, and against a cyborg identical to him but containing the brain of his best friend John Cable. For the keen-eyed, Prime Directives reveals two historical secrets: Murphy's date of death (written "1990" on his tombstone) and the reason he was transferred from Metro South to Metro West (an argument with Cable himself, who was guilty of cold-bloodedly killing a criminal). Even Verhoeven praised the work done by the Prime Directives team and revealed that if he had directed Robocop 4, he would have chosen Fletcher.

Much better, even this low-budget miniseries, than Robocop 2, a film that risked forever ruining the good work done by Verhoeven.