Robotic

I like the intent behind this version of Robocop – the story of a near-dead-in-action police officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman), a family man – and the objectives of the megalithic Omnicorp to monetize him – turn him into an emotionless law enforcement officer - literally drowning emotions with dopamine in the process. But it does not come through in any meaningful degree. While wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) plays the wronged housewife in a totally uncharacteristic role, it is Dr. Norton (Gary Oldman) and his moral pangs that possibly lend some semblance of thespian consistency in a movie that does not leave much of a mark on the viewer

12/20

Dark City

Two budding American internet entrepreneurs – Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) - find themselves swindled of their business idea in Moscow. Frustrated and hanging out in a discotheque, they hook up with two female American tourists – Natalie (Olivia Thirlby) and Anne (Rachael Taylor). Things begin to turn really strange at the discotheque, when a power surge takes out the lights. Certain strange electrical beings are descending from space, and annihilating the human race (yawn). What makes The Darkest Hour mildly interesting is the form (or lack of it) of the aliens, and the mildly interesting pseudoscience consisting of Faraday cages, microwave bursts and whatnot. Even as the last remnants of the human race fight back, this is a movie which barely leaves a trace as you leave the theatre
10.5/20