RoboCop (franchise) The franchise has made over US$100 million worldwide and a fourth installment, a remake serving as a reboot titled "RoboCop," was released in February 2014. RoboCop is a 1987 American cyberpunk action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, "RoboCop" centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop". The film features Peter Weller, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer, and Ronny Cox. In addition to being an action film, "RoboCop" includes larger themes regarding the media, resurrection, gentrification, corruption,
RoboCop 2 "reset" RoboCop's character by turning him back into the monotone-voiced peacekeeper seen early in the first film, despite his reclaiming his human identity and personality by the end of that film. Many were also critical of the child villain Hob; David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews stated, "That the film asks us to swallow a moment late in the story that features Robo taking pity on an injured Hob is heavy-handed and ridiculous (we should probably be thankful the screenwriters didn't have RoboCop say something like, 'Look at what these vile drugs have done to this innocent boy')." Janet Maslin