RoboCop 2 is the sequel to Verhoeven's cyberpunk classic and the titular RoboCop (Peter Weller, transcendent as always) is back on the streets of a Detroit that has, despite his efforts, gotten a whole lot worse. Gangsters rule the downtown metro, and when the severely underfunded police department plans to go on strike the city threatens to explode into violence. Meanwhile, the Omni Consumer Products megacorporation is burning through "volunteers" as it tries to in vain to replicate the success of its RoboCop project until unscrupulous researchers find the perfect candidate— a psychotic drug lord who wants to live forever. It's up to Robo "Murphy" Cop to once again find his inner humanity and save Detroit from the threat of rampaging cyborgs.

An exercise in excess that builds towards a showstopper of a final boss fight with extraordinary stop motion work from the great Phil Tippett, RoboCop 2 knows what the people want: violence and robots, lots of robots. This delirious second parter ramps up the humour (poor Robo being given a suite of confusing new public-friendly commands like “do not use harsh language” is a standout) while playing the hits that made the first entry so enjoyable, and despite Verhoeven stepping down it's a real pleasure to watch Weller back in the suit and getting silly with it. Loosely based on a script by comic veteran Frank Miller (Sin City), this is pure pulp indulgence for grown adults who like to play with action figures and are not ashamed of it.