How we feel about Neil Blomkamp directing a new Robocop film

Seems like Neill Blomkamp – director of District 9 – has been tapped to direct a sequel to Robocop, called Robocop Returns. The South-African director had previously been trying to make a sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens, which unfortunately got shut down.

If it seems like it was only last week how we were writing about how Robocop is Jesus, that’s because it is. When putting that article together we had no idea only a week later we’d be faced with the news that Robocop is getting another sequel. Given how iconic the original is, it’s easy to forget there were previous attempts at continuations. And of course there’s also a reason we forgot, as they’re legit horrendous.

There was Robocop 2, (which featured a child villain), Robocop 3 (which had a ninja robot), an animated series (not sure we’ve seen this), a TV show (seen this, no memory whatsoever), a TV miniseries called Robocop: Prime Directives, and a reboot from 2014 that took it upon itself to rid the premise of any fun. So to answer the question of how we feel about Neill Blomkamp helming a new version: pretty good.

Now of course Blomkamp’s follow-ups to District 9 haven’t received the same acclaim as his debut. Contrary to most Elysium was the one we didn’t care much for, whereas Chappie proved to be a real winner. We suppose we have a higher tolerance for South-African rappers than others.

One thing’s for sure: Blomkamp has proven with both his movies and his short films (for his film studio Oats Studios) to be masterful at combining live action with special effects. We’re also excited about how the Robocop franchise has finally managed to snag a filmmaker again who has more on his mind than generic action scenes, as Blomkamp has previously delivered in integrating satire with action in District 9.

We hope the fact that this is a direct continuation, based on a script by original writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, will help to finally steer the Robocop franchise back on track. If not, then there’s always space in Hollywood’s pile of creatively crushed filmmakers. At least that’s where we assume José Padilha now resides, who went from directing the great Elite Squad movies to the heavily meddled with Robocop reboot.