"Robocop 2" belongs in the same list as "Psycho II", "Hellbound: Hellraiser II", "Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou", "Exorcist II: The Heretic", "The Howling II" and perhaps a handful of other titles that I'm momentarily forgetting. What defines this list, apart from the obvious fact they are all sequels? They are all criminally underrated and underestimated sequels that at least tried something different rather than simply cashing in further on the known and proven-to-be-successful formulas of the original. Films like these generally receive low ratings and negative reviews, not necessarily because they are inferior, but mainly because the people weren't expecting innovative plot aspects or sudden changes in tone or atmosphere. "Robocop 2" was written by none other than Frank Miller, the genius behind "Sin City", so you know that the comic book style violence and twisted humor will be even more extreme than in the original (and Verhoeven's original already was extremely violent and quite twisted)! Add to this the sublime skills of the director who made what is, to date, still the darkest and greatest episode of the "Star Wars" franchise, and you've got yourself a derailed and uncompromising popcorn action-flick! Miller's script doesn't avoid any taboos, and includes megalomaniac villains, the glorification of drug abuse, large-scaled corruption and underaged criminal offenders. Detroit looks like an even bigger asphalt wasteland than before and the privatizing of the police by OCP (Omni Consumer Products) continues to lead to strikes and anarchy. Officer Alex Murphy, aka Robocop, is the last reliable law enforcer, but his inventors at OCP have different plans. The title of the film doesn't only refer to the fact it's a sequel, "Robocop 2" is also supposed to be an upgraded version of the first half man/half machine policeman that was "Robocop". However, the crazy lady at OCP decided to use the brain and spinal course of psychopathic drug-lord and killer Cain for her test model, so he quickly turns out to be a more destructive killing machine than all the criminal organizations in Detroit combined. There are a whole lot of things in "Robocop 2" that don't make the slightest bit of sense, but at least it's insanely entertaining and fast-paced. Tom Noonan's performance as Cain is fabulously over-the-top, and his gang contains the meanest and most badass 14-year-old of the 80s/90s era. The shootouts are nasty and explicit, and a few scenes that come to mind are definitely not suitable for people with a faint stomach.
