Robocop needs to recharge

Some franchises just need to die. What was once an exciting and innovative silver-screen trilogy is now delegated to the ranks of a low-budget television miniseries. It's about time Alex Murphy (aka Robocop) hung up the helmet once and for all, or at least turn the series over to someone younger who can put a new twist on the series.\n"Robocop Dark Justice: Prime Directives" is the first part in a miniseries unofficially dubbed "Robocop 4." But calling it that is an insult to the movies that came before it. Set in Delta City, the story follows the struggle of a corporate-controlled police department. The story unravels both in the past and the future, as continual flashbacks to Murphy's (Page Fletcher) pre-Robocop days alongside his partner John Cable (Maurice Dean Wint) reveal intimate details into Robocop's thirst for justice and vengeance. Now Robocop is old and fragile, and his gears don't seem to be working too well either. He also seems to have lost any ability to act. The parallelism between past and future is so apparent and predictable that it kills whatever suspense this movie had going for it.\nAlso vying for the viewer's attention are a power struggle between OCP (a corporation that owns just about everything) and a new menace to the peaceful Delta City, a poorly-costumed baddie who goes by the name Bone Crusher. Sure, this guy walks around with a skull mask and a machine gun on each hand, but his biggest line is, "You're boned, baby." How's that for atrocious scriptwriting? Even when Robocop and Bone Crusher meet, both are weighted down by too much metal to create any semblance of an exciting action sequences.\nNot wanting to spend any extra money on production work, the studio left off any semblance of special features. There are no commentaries or behind the scenes specials. Interactive menus and Spanish subtitles do not count as special features. This movie is in desperate need of something, anything, to improve its presentation.\nThis first part of the miniseries leaves the viewer hanging, but unless the second part can find a way to improve upon the flaws of the first, it won't have much of an audience.