Verhoeven On Total Recall, RoboCop Reboots…

Not every remake sucks, but the remakes of Total Recall and RoboCop stayed faithful to the rule.  Among other things, both totally missed the point.  Something that has not been lost on original director Paul Verhoeven. Speaking with Collider, this is what he has to say about those movies.

Oh sure, I watch them. Somehow they seem to think that the lightness of say Total Recall and Robocop is a hindrance. So they take these somewhat absurd stories and make them much too serious. I think that is a mistake. Especially in Robocop when he awakens they gave him the same brain. He’s a horribly injured and amputated victim, which is horrifying and tragic from the very beginning. So we didn’t do that in Robocop. His brain is gone and he has only flashes of memory and needs to go to a computer to find out who he even is. I think by not having a robot brain, you make the movie much heavier and I don’t think that helps the movie in anyway. It becomes more silly or absurd, but in the wrong way. Both those movies needed the distance of satire or comedy to situate it for audiences. Playing it straight without any humour is a problem and not an improvement.

Verhoeven’s new movie, Elle, is about a woman raped in her home who then seeks to stalk her attacker in return.