Android Cop was a massive welcomed surprise!!! Yes it's considered one of Asylums Mockbusters but it's so much more than just a cheap low-rent version of the Robocop reboot.
First off this B-movie gem is a lovely mixture of many old school & newer buddy-cop films & action-packed Sci-fi films & blends it altogether pretty much faultless, considering this is a mega low-budget film.
I saw homages to Surrogates, Doomsday, Robocop, Mad Max, i,Robot, Universal Soldier, Lethal Weapon, Alien Nation, Escape from L. A, Cyborg, T-Force & more!!!
The film is a throwback to old school 80's buddy-cop films & the Sci-fi action genre & we get a gloriously kick-ass piece of B-movie heaven.
The cast is great with B-movie & cult cinema action hero MICHAEL JAI WHITE, a guy i alway remembered from the underrated SPAWN (1997) & Exit Wounds, but a guy that has done so much direct-to-video action work that he's a legend of that genre. To see Jai White at probably his absolute bone crunching best i would recommend the superior sequel, Undisputed 2 where he's up against another b movie action legend Scott Adkins.
Michelle Jai White is Awesome in his role here as tough future cop Hammond. Jai White does not "Phone it in" or "Sleep walk" through it, oh no he's no Steven Seagal, in fact Jai White gives it his all in his role. White is very funny as the script gives him a chance at playing a sarcastic & funny cop, yes he's tough but also very witty & humorous. Hammond is teamed up with a new type of police officer, an Android Cop. The robotic officer who becomes known as Andy by Hammond have to reluctantly work together in order to save a mysterious young lady from a quarantined area of Los Angeles called The Zone. The Zone is cut off from the rest of Los Angeles & is where a deadly virus has once spread & all that is left there is mutant people & violent gangs (think The Warriors) & it feels very 80's Cool. Set in 2045 in L. A & full of futuristic bit & bobs & made purely to entertain as it blasts by in it's fast pace, Android Cop is a blast of a good time.
Hammond & Andy are on a mission into the Zone to rescue the Mayor's daughter but also end up uncovering a major Conspiracy that leads back to their own police department. I was pleasantly surprised by how packed this little film was of twists & turns & slam bang action.
The story is awesome & again very old school 80's or early 90's & there's even a very smart & unexpected twist along the way & many awesome shootouts & fights. I got vibes of the awesome DREDD at points in the Zone area. The script is damn good for a cheap B-movie & the film has many uses of very smart futuristic technology ideas such as some humans in comas that are unaware they're in a coma & are living life outside as a Robot but with their conscience!!! Some very smart ideas here & some fun little gems sprinkled throughout such as we here that Coca Cola or any soft drinks no longer exist with any sugar & are as rare as anything else deemed unhealthy in this controlled 2045 futuristic world. Yep, there's lots of nice little touches to look out & listen for. Now, this being a very cheap film the fx aren't like Will Smith's i, Robot but for what they had to work with they definitely delivered something Awesome. The standouts are the excellent looking Police spaceship type cruiser & the spiked mad max style car.
Now also being this is a very low-budget movie means there's never that many people or extras around so when the characters are in the Zone place the gangs are very few at a time, it doesn't really matter at the same time you also don't get the feel of a place overrun with lots of savage gangs like in The Warriors or Doomsday. The production isn't that bad actually, again considering it's tiny budget, as the quarantined area known as The Zone looks more like an old western town than a city type area. What i appreciated is that they really tried with this movie & it definitely wasn't as terrible or tacky as most Asylum stuff.
The cast really do put in very surprisingly good work with of course Michael Jai White putting in a very Del Spooner (Will Smith in i,Robot) type performance & pulls it off as an awesome character & has some good banter chemistry with Andy. Also the Android Cop called Andy is perfectly played by Randy Wayne & a corrupted fellow police officer that has a fairly main part is excellently played by Kadeem Hardison & veteran actor Charles S. Dutton puts in a very effective performance as the Mayor with a dark secret & a very strong meaningful performance from Larissa Verez as the missing Mayor's daughter. In fact the film has a mainly black cast which was very cool like an old-school Blaxploitation film.
I want a sequel with more adventures with these characters as they're so damn cool.
As said this movie really is B-movie gold. Every now & again a B-movie comes along that is just a blast, such as other gems i love like Dolph Lundgren's Battle of the Damned & Quarantine 2: The Terminal.
Definitely one the best B-movies in a long time & I've seen hundreds & usually rate B-movies higher than big budget Blockbusters!!!
Good fun.
First off this B-movie gem is a lovely mixture of many old school & newer buddy-cop films & action-packed Sci-fi films & blends it altogether pretty much faultless, considering this is a mega low-budget film.
I saw homages to Surrogates, Doomsday, Robocop, Mad Max, i,Robot, Universal Soldier, Lethal Weapon, Alien Nation, Escape from L. A, Cyborg, T-Force & more!!!
The film is a throwback to old school 80's buddy-cop films & the Sci-fi action genre & we get a gloriously kick-ass piece of B-movie heaven.
The cast is great with B-movie & cult cinema action hero MICHAEL JAI WHITE, a guy i alway remembered from the underrated SPAWN (1997) & Exit Wounds, but a guy that has done so much direct-to-video action work that he's a legend of that genre. To see Jai White at probably his absolute bone crunching best i would recommend the superior sequel, Undisputed 2 where he's up against another b movie action legend Scott Adkins.
Michelle Jai White is Awesome in his role here as tough future cop Hammond. Jai White does not "Phone it in" or "Sleep walk" through it, oh no he's no Steven Seagal, in fact Jai White gives it his all in his role. White is very funny as the script gives him a chance at playing a sarcastic & funny cop, yes he's tough but also very witty & humorous. Hammond is teamed up with a new type of police officer, an Android Cop. The robotic officer who becomes known as Andy by Hammond have to reluctantly work together in order to save a mysterious young lady from a quarantined area of Los Angeles called The Zone. The Zone is cut off from the rest of Los Angeles & is where a deadly virus has once spread & all that is left there is mutant people & violent gangs (think The Warriors) & it feels very 80's Cool. Set in 2045 in L. A & full of futuristic bit & bobs & made purely to entertain as it blasts by in it's fast pace, Android Cop is a blast of a good time.
Hammond & Andy are on a mission into the Zone to rescue the Mayor's daughter but also end up uncovering a major Conspiracy that leads back to their own police department. I was pleasantly surprised by how packed this little film was of twists & turns & slam bang action.
The story is awesome & again very old school 80's or early 90's & there's even a very smart & unexpected twist along the way & many awesome shootouts & fights. I got vibes of the awesome DREDD at points in the Zone area. The script is damn good for a cheap B-movie & the film has many uses of very smart futuristic technology ideas such as some humans in comas that are unaware they're in a coma & are living life outside as a Robot but with their conscience!!! Some very smart ideas here & some fun little gems sprinkled throughout such as we here that Coca Cola or any soft drinks no longer exist with any sugar & are as rare as anything else deemed unhealthy in this controlled 2045 futuristic world. Yep, there's lots of nice little touches to look out & listen for. Now, this being a very cheap film the fx aren't like Will Smith's i, Robot but for what they had to work with they definitely delivered something Awesome. The standouts are the excellent looking Police spaceship type cruiser & the spiked mad max style car.
Now also being this is a very low-budget movie means there's never that many people or extras around so when the characters are in the Zone place the gangs are very few at a time, it doesn't really matter at the same time you also don't get the feel of a place overrun with lots of savage gangs like in The Warriors or Doomsday. The production isn't that bad actually, again considering it's tiny budget, as the quarantined area known as The Zone looks more like an old western town than a city type area. What i appreciated is that they really tried with this movie & it definitely wasn't as terrible or tacky as most Asylum stuff.
The cast really do put in very surprisingly good work with of course Michael Jai White putting in a very Del Spooner (Will Smith in i,Robot) type performance & pulls it off as an awesome character & has some good banter chemistry with Andy. Also the Android Cop called Andy is perfectly played by Randy Wayne & a corrupted fellow police officer that has a fairly main part is excellently played by Kadeem Hardison & veteran actor Charles S. Dutton puts in a very effective performance as the Mayor with a dark secret & a very strong meaningful performance from Larissa Verez as the missing Mayor's daughter. In fact the film has a mainly black cast which was very cool like an old-school Blaxploitation film.
I want a sequel with more adventures with these characters as they're so damn cool.
As said this movie really is B-movie gold. Every now & again a B-movie comes along that is just a blast, such as other gems i love like Dolph Lundgren's Battle of the Damned & Quarantine 2: The Terminal.
Definitely one the best B-movies in a long time & I've seen hundreds & usually rate B-movies higher than big budget Blockbusters!!!
Good fun.