Chappie

Chappie

Starring Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Yolandi Visser

Directed by Neill Blomkamp

The Story:
In Johannesburg, robots have been created to help combat crime.  The inventor of these robots, Deon (Dev Patel), wishes to create artificial intelligence, and finally cracks the code to do that.  He wants to create a robot with a consciousness, to teach it art, science and beauty, but that's counter-productive for his boss, Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver), who wishes to create more robots as weapons.

Meanwhile, in the mean streets of Johannesburg, Ninja (Ninja) and his girlfriend Yolandi (Yolandi Visser) are in deep with a criminal syndicate, and decide to find a way to turn off the robots so they can complete one major heist.  To that end, they kidnap Deon and a decommissioned robot, but once Deon tells them he has the means to make it a sentient being, they allow him to reprogram the robot to be used for their crimes.  Thus Chappie (Sharlto Copley) was born. 

As Chappie "grows up" he learns the good of humanity from Deon, whom he calls creator, but then learns the darkness of the world from Ninja and Yolandi, whom he calls daddy and mommy.  Meanwhile, Deon's co-worker Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) has his own set of robots that he wishes to use for police work, but is repeatedly denied due to his high cost and budget.  He learns of Chappie's existence, which springs into a plan to permanently shut down all the robots so his are the only ones left available to stop crime.

Soon Deon finds himself working with the ruffiants he once warned Chappie about as they try to escape Vincent's evil robot, as well as the criminal mastermind who are both chasing them with desires to take Chappie for their own.

The Synopsis:
Neill Blomkamp emerged in a big way with his gender-bending "District 9," a surprise hit not just with audiences but critics alike, even earning an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.  Years later he emerged again with "Elysium" which boasted a more popular cast (Matt Damon, Jodie Foster), but to so-so reviews and mediocre fan response.  Now he came out with "Chappie," once again taking place in Johannesburg, and, much like M. Night before him, he seems to be slowly going down the directing drain.

That's not to say "Chappie" had its moments, or even that it was a bad idea.  It's just something that's been done before.  Perhaps not word-for-word, but the concept can be seen in other films like "RoboCop" and "Short Circuit."  The story was incredibly flat, dull and predictable, filled with unlikeable characters (with the exception of motherly figure Yolandi), a bad guy cut right from the classic movies of yore (you could almost imagining Jackman twirling a handlebar mustache throughout), and a world where gangstas are gangstas, nerdy inventors are nerdy inventors, and no one really changes in the end.

The shining light in this film is Chappie himself, who was masterfully done by frequent Blomkamp cohort Sharlto Copley.  He performed the Andy Serkis role, portraying Chappie with motion-capture devices before being replaced by CGI, but the CGI was darn impressive.  It really looked like Chappie was a real robot, instead of something created on a laptop.

There was an overtone to the film that's very difficult to not mention, and that's the issue of God and His creation.  In the film, Deon is the Creator, the one who created Chappie.  He teaches Chappie the beauty of the world, introducing him to literature and art.  He warns Chappie to not do the bad things he sees other people doing, and to always do what's right.  Then he leaves, and Chappie is faced with the real world, and the negative influences around him causes him to do bad things and to eventually turn his back on his Creator.  There was a scene where they're fighting, and Chappie says "if you are my Maker, why did you make me to die?"  That was an incredibly profound question that we ask our own Creator.  Then the film takes a complete 180 in the third act and pretty much disregards this whole premise entirely, which is sad because it would've been an intriguing philosophical story.  

The Summary:
"Chappie" isn't a terrible film, it's just not a great one.  In a world where we strive to see the excellent, settling for the mundane is almost as bad as being a terrible film.

The Score: B+