An Underrated Sci-Fi Reboot Just Hit Paramount+ And It’s Already a Streaming HIt

When a movie franchise is popular enough, it’s not too much of a surprise when it gets a remake or a reboot. It’s something that we see pretty frequently, especially in the sci-fi genre. Star Trek notably got a reboot with J.J. Abrams’ 2009 film. 2011 saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes give new life to the iconic Planet of the Apes franchise, and even Dune has gotten a fresh take thanks to Denis Villeneuve with the third installment of his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel arriving later this year. But while some of these remakes end up being classics in their own right, there are others that don’t necessarily hit quite the same — at least not until they find new life on streaming.

That’s turning out to be the case for 2014’s RoboCop. The film, directed by Jose Padiha and starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, and more, is a remake of the 1987 RoboCop film and it is not only currently streaming on Paramount+, but it’s not just streaming on the platform. It’s rising on its overall charts. According to FlixPatrol, the film is presently the number four on its top movies for the week. This is particularly notable when the original RoboCop and its two sequels are also currently streaming on Paramount+ as well, but thus far haven’t charted on the top ten.

RoboCop (2014) Received Mixed Reviews But Deserves to Stand on Its Own

If you were to judge 2014’s RoboCop entirely on its reviews and reception when it was released in theaters, you’d probably come away thinking the film was didn’t live up to the original and to an extent, you would be correct. Much of the critical response to the remake noted how it didn’t measure up to the 1987 film. However, in retrospect that really only tells part of the story. When it comes to sci-fi movies, there are often elements that make those movies products of their time, even when futuristic in nature. That is a part of what makes sci-fi such an interesting genre: it is simultaneously forward-thinking and a time capsule. But that also makes evaluating remakes, reboots, and updates of sci-fi films a little tricky.  In the case of 2014’s RoboCop, it is a film that is much more straightforward and even a bit dry as compared to the original which has long been praised for its wit and subversive nature.

In essence, the 2014 movie is much more a different approach to the same idea — the story of a critically injured detective who is turned into a cyborg cop with programming that causes the line between man and machine to blur. For audiences who have not seen the original film, it is likely they will come away with their own opinions about the story as well as the writing and performances, which were largely praised even when the film was released. Given that the film is proving to be a streaming it suggests that may be what is happening with new audiences discovering the film independent of the movies that came before it and giving the reboot the chance to stand on its own it never really had. Of course, you can decide for yourself how you feel about the RoboCop reboot. It’s streaming this month on Paramount+.