Robocop 3 (1993)

 

Oof, this one is painful.

It's not really director Fred Dekker's fault, nor that of the people involved. This one just has a very lousy script bereft of any satire and all the violence has been turned PG instead of R, so everything becomes an extremely watered down version of the characters. Take stock villains, intentional comedy that isn't funny and a studio trying to milk the franchise for all it was worth and the end result is rather terrible.

OCP, the company that owns pretty much everything, is now bought by a Japanese corporation called Kanemitsu. They want to speed ahead with Delta City. You know, that urban renewal project that has been on the table since the very first one. But people aren't moving fast enough, so OCP has hired Rehabs, which are paramilitary troops (of a sort) that forcefully evict people and are under the leadership of an absolute bastard.

How do you know? He speaks with an affected British accent. That is a villain for you. 

Also, the CEO of OCP has been replaced by Rip Torn. Nothing against Rip Torn, but you instantly know this one will turn silly at the drop of a hat. 

It does.

Some people, led by CCH Pounder, try to fight back and are of course labeled terrorists. They get help from a very young girl who is an expert hacker (because of course) and after Lewis gets shot by the Rehabs, Murphy/Robocop allies himself with these people. In the meantime, Kanemitsu sends a robot of their own making to Detroit, a ninja type warrior who looks human in every respect. 

Yeah, the robot bad guy is awful as well.

ED-209 is made to be a joke, by the way. Remember when that guy was scary and threatening in the first one? 

In the end, the police fight together with the people against the Rehabs, who have added street punks called... 'Splatterpunks' to their ranks because violence, I guess. OCP ends up bankrupt, Kanemitsu still owns the city and people's homes are still wrecked, but happy end? 

Sheesh.

They did manage to bring back many of the actors from previous installments, which is nice. But Nancy Allen has nothing to do and gets gunned down like an idiot (way to keep her character consistent, guys!). Robocop is played by Robert John Burke, who tries his best and in all fairness is decent in the part, but the suit is clearly too big for him (literally) and he has horrendously inane lines to spew. 

The villains are also atrocious and extremely stock. Yegh. Oh, and the ninja robot is one of the most asinine ideas any scriptwriter ever had. It makes zero sense, is not imposing or threatening and gets its ass handed by a little girl. 

And Robocop flies. Yes, you read that correctly.

The first film is an absolute gem and a classic, the second one is still fun but not as much as the first one and this is absolute dreck. Avoid at all costs.