Movie Review: CHAPPIE

Look at this: From the writer/director of District 9. Wickus. Ripley. Slumdog. Die Antwoord. Wolverine with a mullet. ED-209 meeRobocop 2. HOW IS THIS MOVIE NOT GOING TO BE AMAZING?

My mom saw a TV spot for Chappie and asked me what I knew about it. I told her to think of it as Short Circuit for adults. In reality that’s not too far off, but director Neill Blomkamp’s three feature films have all been a sum of their parts from genre films of the past. He’s claimed James Cameron’s Aliens as his favorite film, and is close with Peter Jackson who also knows a lot about splatter gore and epic scale. Chappie has major influence from the first two Robocop films, both Short Circuit films, and The Fifth Element among others. I remember right after seeing District 9 that Blomkamp was going to be the successor to Paul Verhoeven, the auteur of ultra-violence, satire, and social awareness, who managed time and time again to craft a popcorn flick with a serious depth. Blomkamp’s second film Elysium was a staggering disappointment (even to Neill himself) that took a great premise and a lot of great ideas and made them into a sloppy, horribly scripted, horribly acted piece of forgettable. Elysium still managed to tackle being an action movie with a lot more going on, but now comes Chappie which is more of a dramedy than anything else, and surely it’s as shallow as it seems on the surface, right? Wrong. It’s still fluffier than Blomkamp’s other films, but that in no way deters the movie being a conversation starter beyond how funny it is.

In the not-so-distant future, Johannesburg, South Africa is a crime ridden place of turmoil that’s prompted the police to use smart droids to help clean up the streets. The robots don’t look very imposing, but they’re incredibly strong, bullet proof, and have detachable “plug and play” parts to easily fix damages. Deon (Dev Patel) is the mastermind at a large weapons developer behind these creations that have brought the police great success, and he’s working on an advanced artificial intelligence that will allow the police bots to actually think and feel like a human being. Meanwhile, rival developer Vincent (Hugh Jackman) is an ex-military man trying to get his own robots onto the streets, a VR headset controlled behemoth, and is envious/jealous of Deon’s achievements. Director Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver) nixes both ideas of advanced AI and the VR project, which leads to both men pursuing their creations in less honest ways.

Meanwhile, three criminals (Die Antwoord aka Ninja and Yo-Landi playing themselves, and Jose Pablo Cantillo) get in deep debt to a crime lord and kidnap Deon in an attempt to get control over the robots and allow a major heist to be possible. Deon’s program “consciousness” is his bargaining chip, using it in a damaged police bot to create a child-like being that Yo-Landi names Chappie. He’s pulled in multiple directions learning morals from his “maker” Deon, love and soul from his “Mommy” Yo-Landi, and being bad from his “Daddy” Ninja with a little help from Amerika (Cantillo). Once Vincent becomes wise to what Deon has done, he decides to take advantage of the situation for his benefit.

Aside from a constant stream of cursing from Ninja, and an amazing, horribly grisly death scene, the movie is rather family friendly as far as Blomkamp goes, and I think kids would really enjoy the movie if their parents aren’t too uptight. Never thought I’d say that. The movie is an extension of Blomkamp’s first short film Tetra Vaal much like District 9 was an extension of his short Alive in Joburg. His robots in his early works (and in Elysium) all have a similar look, and the motion capture/animation Blomkamp’s work has all had, which was great even back 2004, has allowed for a living, breathing robot. Lines are often blurred as to what is practical and what is digital creation, which is great for bringing a fake character to life in a realistic, believable fashion. Blomkamp’s movies all look fantastic, and his extensive knowledge of visual effects are only part of that. The set designs, all of the graffiti and the worn look, is incredibly detailed and the Johannesburg that he creates (again) is a character itself.

Sharlto Copley is absolutely perfect as the intelligent, child-like Chappie. His delivery of lines, the infliction he puts on words, brings Johnny 5 to mind but is even more charming and funny. There’s a sequence in the middle of the film where Chappie is tricked into stealing cars, and it’s hysterical in good part because of Copley’s performance. The rest of the cast is so bizarre that it kinda works. Jackman’s villain, with his awful haircut and cutting glances, is menacing in all the right ways, and Patel’s noble visionary is annoying and grating in those same right ways. More mixed is Die Antwoord’s film debut, playing some sort of alternate reality versions of themselves — they even listen to their own music, and Ninja at one point is wearing a shirt with his face on it. Yo-Landi surprised me at many moments which are tender and help give the movie a heart, but Ninja…well, he’s Ninja. If you’ve got any knowledge of the hip-hop duo you know the personas they play pretty quickly, and Ninja is exactly as deplorable as his “act.” The character is completely nonredeemable, so much so that it’s distracting from the rest of the movie. Granted that the character is supposed to be a bad guy it’s okay, but when Blomkamp attempts to redeem him in some way it fails miserably. He’s the one really, really dark spot in an otherwise good cast. Also, Weaver isn’t just phoning it is, more like she’s just left a voicemail.

Here’s the good news: the movie, for the most part, is solid. The pacing is too slow at times, a bit too rushed at others, but as a whole it’s an engaging, fun experience. The ending drags along far too long and ends on a flat note rather than an exhilarating one that it should have. There are a lot of questions that arise from talking about the movie after you get around the silly, convenient ending. Just how far fetched is the movie and the concepts? Not at all, really. It’s inevitable that robotics and technology will shape our future as a people and eventually extend our lives, and the movie does for technology what District 9 did for immigration and poverty. Blomkamp thrills and dazzles and the whole time he’s actually made you think. Will his Alien sequel that’s in pre-production now manage to do the same? All signs point to yes.