While RoboCop is about corporations and governments out of control Robotrix is more of a traditional mad scientist movie (with the twist that the mad scientist is both a Dr Frankenstein and a Frankenstein’s monster in one). This might make it seem less interesting than RoboCop but Robotrix simply has other fish to fry.
Salina (played by Japanese actress Chikako Aoyama) is a tough Hong Kong police detective. An Arab oil prince has been kidnapped by a brilliant but deranged Japanese scientist, Ryuichi Sakamoto (Chung Lin). Sakamoto has transformed himself into a cyborg. His motivation seems to be revenge for the mockery his work had attracted.
In the course of the kidnapping Salina is killed but her story is far from over. Another genius scientist (and Sakamoto’s arch-rival) Dr Sara (Hui Hsiao-dan) uploads Salina’s personality into a robot.
Dr Sara has a beautiful female assistant, Ann (Amy Yip), who is in fact a robot. Ann is a pure robot while Salina is a cyborg, with a human personality.
While RoboCop is troubled by the fact that he is no longer either man or machine but a bit of both and looks like a monstrous robot Salina’s problem is that she looks entirely human but is no longer sure if she’s a machine or a woman. And I think it’s fair to assume that this would be an even bigger issue for a woman than it would be for a man. Salina has been dating Joe (David Wu), a member of her squad. She needs to know if she is still capable of love now that she is no longer exactly human.
Sakamoto, now an incredibly powerful cyborg, goes on a murderous rampage.
Prostitutes are being murdered, the police believe this to be linked to Sakamoto and the police have set a trap. It doesn’t work out the way they had hoped.
All their attempts to apprehend Sakamoto seem destined for failure, even with a formidable lady cyborg and an equally formidable lady robot on their side. Lots of incredibly violent mayhem ensues, with unpleasant consequences for both Salina and Dr Sara. It will of course lead to a violent showdown.
While Robotrix engages with some serious issues along the way it’s essentially an adrenalin-charged action romp and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. At times it is extremely funny, and deliberately so.
The whole concept of cheating death by uploading your personality into a computer or a robot is not as simple as it sounds. You’re dead. There is now a copy of your personality in the robot, but you yourself are dead. This is glossed over in most science fiction stories but there is a tantalising hint that the writers, Jamie Luk and Man Sing So, were aware of this problem. There is a moment when Joe fears that Salina has been killed again and Ann tells him, “Joe, Salina has been dead for a long time.” This aspect is not developed because that would have made this a totally different movie.
This is a Category III movie (roughly the equivalent of a US NC-17 rating) and there’s some very graphic violence and some very graphic sex. There’s some very graphic sexual violence but while this is to some degree added as an exploitation element it does serve a purpose. There is a danger that we might feel come sympathy for Sakamoto, that we might see him as a tragically misguided genius scientist capable of redemption. His brutalisation of a prostitute and of one the central female characters ensures that we feel no sympathy for him whatsoever. It is necessary for the audience to see Sakamoto as a monster who must be destroyed.
There’s also a romantic sex scene between Salina and Joe. Salina has to know not only if she can still enjoy sex in a physical sense but more important whether she can still enjoy it emotionally. This is a movie that jumps from serious moments such as this to broad comedy. It’s all over the place and while this would be a flaw in most movies this is a Hong Kong movie and it works.
The action scenes are impressive.
The ending is magnificent. And then there’s an epilogue which is quite perfect as well.
The 88 Films Blu-Ray looks terrific and there’s an audio commentary.
Robotrix does have superficial resemblances to RoboCop but it’s also an interesting anticipation of Ghost in the Shell. The Ghost in the Shell movie did not come out until 1995 but the Ghost in the Shell manga was published in 1989.
Robotrix is total insanity but it’s inspired insanity and it’s bursting with energy and it’s very highly recommended (although it is perhaps not for the faint-hearted).
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