Robocop

Outrageously violent, profane, and quite funny, this picture lives up to its billing. And it's my kind of picture. It handily answers the question of how director Verhoeven (or however the hell you spell it) would survive the Atlantic crossing (quite well) and the picture is a blast. The action zings wildly across the screen, and the sharp direction and spare writing keep it at a snap-crackle-pop pace that never gets out of control. The Detroit of the future is horribly well realized, the satire is droll (never overblown), the villains completely venal, and Peter Weller does a nice job of humanizing the Robocop. The violent setpieces are punchily constructed, and there are not so many of them that it all becomes mind-numbing. This is a picture that could easily have gone haywire, and the fact that it did not is a credit to the team that made it. The (very satisfying) ending comes not one minute too early or late. Not lasting cinema, granted, but an exemplary diversion nonetheless.