ROBOCOP Remake Gets (One Of?) Its Villains, Continues Raising Expectations to Absurd Heights

Even if we weren’t pretending that I photoshopped Robocop into this still of John Goodman in the movie The Babe calling his shot, I can’t help but think that this image is a fine metaphor for the run up to the Robocop remake.  (Image: Universal)

The first thing that I have to say to you is this; forget about the movie ROBOCOP, which is a great movie. Forget about the context in which it was released back in the 80’s and the great asset criticism of the media that it made. Forget about all of that, just the concept of ROBOCOP theoretically… Robocop is not a superhero, Robocop is what happens to a man when you start changing it with technology so he can follow certain purposes and do certain things for corporations or whatever. What happens when technology takes over consciousness and free will?…And that in itself… If somebody comes to me and says “Let’s make a movie about that” and there was no ROBOCOP, I would still say “Great, let’s do it,” because it talks to my heart, it’s a freedom concept, and we are getting there.

-Jose Padilha, director, Robocop remake (via)

This was an interview that the Brazilian native gave to AICN’s Nordling shortly after his movie Elite Squad: The Enemy Within played Fantastic Fest ’11 to unabashed and well-earned raves.  In that same interview, you’ll also notice that he’s in touch with the utter insanity of the American political system (The Enemy Within deals with a right-wing cop being forced to work with a left-wing politician in order to root out extreme corruption in Rio’s police force), and while he’s not saying anything that comes off as particularly profound, there’s no way you come away from this interview thinking, “This dude does not have a good Robocop remake in him.”

And the cast for this thing has only been building up the potential.