A Review of Frank Miller Robocop

We normally don't do non-movie reviews here at YDKS Movies but, considering Robocop and the story behind this book are a big part of film history, I figured it would be appropriate to post this review here.

For those who do not know, Frank Miller, the graphic artist of works such as Sin City and 300, was approached by producer Jon Davis to write a sequel to Robocop back in the 1980's following the success of his gritty and futuristic take on Batman via the classic graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Miller turned in a screenplay that was full of the same dark humor, action sequences, and extreme violence that made the original film a success. However, despite the praise his screenplay garnered, it soon became dubbed by Hollywood as "unfilmable," which is the kiss of death for any screenplay going through the motions. Miller was heartbroken to see his screenplay undergo massive re-writes, the final product being a mere shell of his original script. When Robocop 2 was released in 1990, the film was trashed by critics and audiences alike. Even those involved in the project, such as actors Peter Weller and Nancy Allen, were very unhappy with the production of the film and the final product. Frank Miller was said to be horrified by the final product which, despite having his name attached to it, had pretty much nothing to do with his story. Despite his heartbreak, Miller agreed to help pen the screenplay for Robocop 3 with director Fred Dekker, something else which would undergo heavy changes before hitting the screen.

Devastated that his visions never came close to reaching the big screen, Miller wrote off Hollywood, swearing to never work in the business again. He kept his graphic novels close, not signing off the rights for years. Finally, Robert Rodriguez came around, talking Miller into adapting Sin City and even offering him a co-directing position in the production.

Miller's experience with the filming of Sin City was a very healthy one and, ever since then, he has been very involved in the world of Hollywood (although something tells me that that is going to stop when The Spirit is released... things are looking quite grim). 

For years, people always wondered what happened with Frank Miller's unfilmable Robocop 2 screenplay. As time went by, the script gained a mythical status as the lost work of a master storyteller. Finally, in 2003, Avatar Press aquired the comic book rights to Robocop and contacted Miller to see if he wanted to put his now legendary screenplay into a graphic novel. Miller agreed but, due to scheduling conflicts, could not do the artwork for the series. This task went to artist Juan Jose Ryp, best known for illustrating Alan Moore's Another Suburban Romance for Avatar.

 

So, now that I've finally read Frank Miller's epic and once lost vision of Robocop 2, is it everything that I thought it could be? Well, not exactly. However, I am glad that I finally got around to reading it to finally see how much of Miller's vision was neutered and just how drastic the changes to the screenplay really were (how drastic, you ask? Really freaking drastic).

Although the film was completely butchered by critics and fans alike upon release, I happened to really enjoy Robocop 2 and it has definitely grown on me pretty strongly throughout the years (it was one of those childhood movies for me... despite it's extremely mean-spirited graphic violence). So when asked what version of the sequel of Robocop I preferred (comparing the existing film version and Miller's original vision), I think that I had have to go with the film version of Robocop 2 that we ended up getting. It wasn't great but, in the end, it worked better on film and was more coherent than Miller's epic vision ended up being.

Let me explain. The best way to describe Miller's vision of Robocop 2 is that it is Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight but without the strong story and emotion. Much like The Dark Knight, Frank Miller Robocop is a vast and epic story that is seemingly in a constant state of climax. After reading the first few pages of the novel, I became very aware of why the script was originally deemed "unfilmable." There is so much going on and so much destruction occurring that it would be pretty much impossible to film in a coherent fashion. Considering that the screenplay was written in the late 1980's, I'm not sure that they would have had the money or special effects to pull off what Miller put down on paper. 

Along with being an unfilmable, climax-heavy piece, Frank Miller Robocop was definitely the most graphically violent graphic novel or any piece of literature for that matter that I've ever read. Pretty much every page featured someone getting completely taken to pieces- body parts exploding like grape fruits and blood splattering everywhere. Robocop was always notorious for it's graphic but meaningful violence (it was a commentary of the desensitizing media violence of the 1980's) but I think it would be pretty impossible to film what Miller had in mind and get away with it. It feels like thousands of people were killed in this book and all in the most gory fashion possible. 

As I stated earlier, my biggest problem with the book is that there really is not that much in terms of story and emotion. Unlike the first Robocop film, the characters of Robocop and his partner Anne Lewis do not really go through much of a character arc at all. In fact, for most of the book, Robocop just seems to go around blasting everyone he comes into contact with to bits. One could argue that the characters do not undergo much more of an arc in the film version of Robocop 2 (in fact this is one of the biggest complaints of the film other than it's brutality factor) but for some reason or another I felt like that had a more realistic relationship than they did in this book. They don't really share any scenes together in the graphic novel and when they finally come together at the end they have an exchange that I'm not exactly sure if I buy or not. It just seemed out of nowhere and uncharacteristic of Murphy (then again, that was probably the point) but... I dunno... I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. And as for story, man, I'm not really sure what was going on. From what I picked up on, OCP was doing very bad things (such as demolishing homes to make room for Delta City- something that made up most of the plot of Robocop 3) and was becoming more corrupt by hiring psychiatrist Dr. Love, who takes a particular interest in Robocop. Along with corrupting and re-wiring Robocop's system (something that actually made it into the Robocop 2 film), Dr. Love also begins construction of a Robocop 2- a machine that, unlike Murphy, will be conscious free. 

Did all that synopsis sound confusing? Good, because that's really how the story works in this book. Most of the time I was completely lost on what was really going on but, for the most part, it didn't really seem important because every segment tended to end with Robocop coming in and blowing everyone away anyway. Another thing that made the book even more confusing was Juan Jose Ryp's artwork. Now, don't get me wrong, Ryp's artwork was pretty good and well-drawn out but there was so much going on in his panels that I honestly could not really tell what was going on for the most part. As I stated before, Miller packed in some massive battles between Robocop and his foes and there was so much going on in these battles that it's hard to tell what's going on. I literally had to re-scan the pages of action sequences multiple times just to tell what was really going on because Ryp's artwork was so overwhelming at times.

Another thing that a lot of people have complained about in regards to the graphic novel is the manner in which women are drawn and depicted. Just look at the picture above. Dr. Love, Anne Lewis, and pretty much every other woman that appears in the graphic novel looks like she's straight out of a Hustler magazine. Normally something like this wouldn't really stand out to me but it's just so blatant at times that it almost seems tacky. For example, every time Lewis gets into any kind of combat, her shirt conveniently comes undone, exposing her bra and cleavage for the remaining frames. This happens literally every time she is engaged in any kind of action sequence. It just felt unprofessional.

There are other complaints I had with the book (lack of a strong villain, the killing of Sergeant Reed, etc.) but, despite all of these, I still was able to enjoy the graphic novel for the most part. Sure, I was overwhelmed by Miller's erratic script and Ryp's overbearing artwork but it was still fun to read. After all, it's Frank Miller's lost Robocop 2 script. I mean, how cool is that? Sure, it's not perfect by any means but it's still Frank Miller which means it's still very engaging. One thing I've learned that, no matter if Miller does something great or not so great, it's pretty much guaranteed to be engaging no matter what. Although the story isn't any thing special, the book flows pretty well and always manages to keep the reader interested. Miller definitely gets the dark humor of the first Robocop film and employs it quite well at various times (the talk shows were my favorite aspect, along with the use of the electric anti-car jack system- something else that made it into Robocop 2, though in a much different and less-creative manner). Lastly, Miller definitely had an epic vision in mind and to finally see that in a graphic novel of all means is really refreshing even if it isn't the best thing in the world.

So in the end, Frank Miller Robocop is very flawed epic. The scale of Miller's vision is staggering... so much that the emotion of the piece suffers. It was obvious Miller wanted to do something really special with this Robocop sequel. However, it would have been pretty much impossible for him to do that on film. The technology and money wasn't there. Even if it was there, I'm still not sure if it would work- after all, it barely works as a graphic novel. Still, despite all of its flaws, the book manages to be engaging and interesting throughout. Although I cannot see this book working at all for casual fans, if you are a big Frank Miller and Robocop fan, I'd recommend it. It's confusing, overwhelming, and kind of a mess.... but, in the end, it's kind of fun too.

7/10