In the near future, Johannesberg, South Africa has replaced their police squad with Scouts, robots that decimate crime in the poverty-stricken city. The genius behind these machines is Deon Wilson (Dev Patel). His rival, war-mongrel Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) wants his own device up and running. And he will do just about anything to discredit Wilson, even if it means foul play. When Scout #22 is damaged from a routine take down, Wilson bestows the idea to upload an experimental program into the robot's neural network. Wilson and Scout #22 are abducted by a group of drug dealers (played by Ninja and Yo-landi from the band Die Antwoord), where he is forced to upload the software into the robot in order to assist them on a $20 million heist. Scout #22 becomes Chappie, the first machine to be able to think on his own and learn new features like a human child.
The core of "Chappie" is the titular character's relationship with others and how they mold him into either doing good or bad actions. Yo-landi takes up the mantle as the nurturing mother figure that wants him to find his own way while Ninja poses as the violent father figure, who only wants to use him for his own unsavory activities. Interestingly, director Neill Blomkamp chose to keep the band members' names as the character names. Both neophyte actors do not deliver bad performances, but they could have been better. Their characters are rather one-dimensional and flat. The same goes for most of the other cast members. Sigourney Weaver as the CEO of the robot company has too little screen time to develop at all. Dev Patel plays the idealistic genius too well to the point that he feels more like a caricature than an actual character. Hugh Jackman is somewhat of an effective antagonist and his motives are clear for wanting to derail Wilson and his pet project, but his over-the-top performance makes him someone not to be taken seriously.
Then there is Chappie, played by Sharlto Copley in a MOCAP suit. From his movements and voice (digitally altered of course), he rivals the prowess of Andy Serkis. He has a natural energy about him that for the whole two hours, I failed to see his character as a man in a dotted suit. By default, much sentimentality is given to Chappie for his innocent and childlike behavior. This never gets in the way for the audience to enjoy the robot with manlike features and bunny eared antennas. The quieter moments, such as him learning new words or how to paint a picture make this a more worthwhile movie over the action and explosions. Sadly though, they are often interrupted by gunfire or mass destruction. Like so many past sci-fi movies like "E.T." or "The Iron Giant," Chappie is another non-human character we can feel sympathy for. The overall pacifist personality he exhibits is a nice touch, too.
Neill Blomkamp never seems to escape his location of home, depicting trash invested regions, criminals that prove to be anti-heroes instead of villains, Afrikaans dialog, and a gratuitous amount of violence. Fortunately no bodies are blown to pieces, though one guy does get ripped in half. Chappie exceeds over its director's previous film "Elysium." It takes a potentially cool idea and charges forward with some avenue of success. "Chappie" is simply a movie too enjoy. Very easily, with some more polish and time geared toward re-written script drafts, this could have been the best science-fiction film of the decade. Blomkamp still has not yet reached the masterpiece level that I know he can. "Chappie" though is still lots of fun and it has some heart.
The core of "Chappie" is the titular character's relationship with others and how they mold him into either doing good or bad actions. Yo-landi takes up the mantle as the nurturing mother figure that wants him to find his own way while Ninja poses as the violent father figure, who only wants to use him for his own unsavory activities. Interestingly, director Neill Blomkamp chose to keep the band members' names as the character names. Both neophyte actors do not deliver bad performances, but they could have been better. Their characters are rather one-dimensional and flat. The same goes for most of the other cast members. Sigourney Weaver as the CEO of the robot company has too little screen time to develop at all. Dev Patel plays the idealistic genius too well to the point that he feels more like a caricature than an actual character. Hugh Jackman is somewhat of an effective antagonist and his motives are clear for wanting to derail Wilson and his pet project, but his over-the-top performance makes him someone not to be taken seriously.
Then there is Chappie, played by Sharlto Copley in a MOCAP suit. From his movements and voice (digitally altered of course), he rivals the prowess of Andy Serkis. He has a natural energy about him that for the whole two hours, I failed to see his character as a man in a dotted suit. By default, much sentimentality is given to Chappie for his innocent and childlike behavior. This never gets in the way for the audience to enjoy the robot with manlike features and bunny eared antennas. The quieter moments, such as him learning new words or how to paint a picture make this a more worthwhile movie over the action and explosions. Sadly though, they are often interrupted by gunfire or mass destruction. Like so many past sci-fi movies like "E.T." or "The Iron Giant," Chappie is another non-human character we can feel sympathy for. The overall pacifist personality he exhibits is a nice touch, too.
Neill Blomkamp never seems to escape his location of home, depicting trash invested regions, criminals that prove to be anti-heroes instead of villains, Afrikaans dialog, and a gratuitous amount of violence. Fortunately no bodies are blown to pieces, though one guy does get ripped in half. Chappie exceeds over its director's previous film "Elysium." It takes a potentially cool idea and charges forward with some avenue of success. "Chappie" is simply a movie too enjoy. Very easily, with some more polish and time geared toward re-written script drafts, this could have been the best science-fiction film of the decade. Blomkamp still has not yet reached the masterpiece level that I know he can. "Chappie" though is still lots of fun and it has some heart.