Chappie - directed by Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Ninja, Yolandi Visser, Sigourney Weaver
Running Time: 120 minutes
Rated: R13 - A lot of F bombs and some occasionally bloody violence
To start with I need to confess something in the interests of full disclosure....
I do not understand what the fuss is over writer-director Neill Blomkamp.
I liked his debut feature "District 9" without actually loving it.
He knows how to direct special effects and brought a certain freshness to the science fiction genre.
And let's not forget that he introduced the wider planet to the talent of Sharlto Copley.
Then came "Elysium" and it was not great given that I had high hopes that this would be the film that would make me understand what a lot of my friends were raving about when they announced the young South African filmmaker as the saviour of a genre.
And now amidst rumours and subsequently apparent confirmation that Blomkamp will be creating an official Aliens sequel his latest movie arrives- "Chappie".
Maybe the third time is the charm?
And... no.
No, it isn't and it brings me no pleasure to say it (or write it)
There is a pattern emerging with Blomkamp's work.
Science Fiction, South Africa and Sharlto Copley of course but then he is hardly the first director to specialise, favour his homeland or consistently use the same leading man.
Rather I am referring to what I call the Andrew Niccol syndrome.
This is a cinematic affliction that results in a very strong central concept with a compelling setup and a completely botched final act.
Refer to Niccol's "S1mOne", Lord of War", "The Host" and "In Time".
Blomkamp narrowly avoided it with "District 9", fell complete victim to it with "Elysium" and royally suffers from it with "Chappie".
Had that been the only issue maybe I would view this film as the 7 out of 10's I consider his previous ones.
Right from the very first frame there is a glaring familiarity with "Chappie".
As we see faux documentary footage and fake Anderson Cooper TV broadcasts it recalls not only "District 9" but Paul Verhoeven's 1987 classic "Robocop".
This is a story about a violence ridden city (Johannesburg in place of Detroit) that finds a solution in a robot police force.
Blomkamp manages to not only 'borrow' liberally from Verhoeven but even more so from his own work.
There are very definite flavours of "District 9" in here and to a slightly lesser degree "Elysium" with the setting, production design and attempts at satire.
You can also add "Wall E" and "Short Circuit" into the mix.
This is basically the story of a machine intended for violent purposes turning into a lovable robot at odds with the world he was created to control.
But "Chappie" (the movie) still really, really wants to be "Robocop".
Unsurprisingly the result is a movie struggling for an identity of its own and sadly never quite finding one.
It is frustrating because there are some good ideas in here.
As soon as the Robocop setup is in place complete with violent city, rival robot projects run by men with radically different philosophies watched over by an imposing CEO and news broadcast exposition the story introduces a nice central theme.
Artificial Intelligence has long been a science fiction staple but Blomkamp and co-wrtier Terri Tatchell seem to be about to delve deeply into the question of at what point does AI count as a genuine soul?
Cleverly the writing duo has their lead character develop as a human newborn would.
Chappie must learn words and how to speak and what hurts him and who his 'parents' and even 'God' are.
God in this case is the creator- Dev Patel's genius programmer Deon.
There is a very effective exchange where Chappie who has a battery issue that effectively gives him a lifespan questions his creator as to why he would make him only to die.
But this along with the question of what a soul is and is violence justifiable in the service of saving others is only half examined at best.
It isn't all bad news though.
Blomkamp once again proves how good he is with not only effects action sequences but subtle effects scenes too.
The design of Chappie is very good even if the one orange 'ear' seems a little Gwyneth's-haircut-in-Sliding-Doors-ish so we can tell him from the other robots he is a fine creation.
Copley does an utterly fantastic job in voicing and performing the motion capture for the titular robot and deserves a better movie for his efforts.
The 'bad' robot controlled by Hugh Jackman's character is ridiculously reminiscent of ED209 from "Robocop" - even the knee joints are identical.
Even so it is a nicely rendered villain and when the inevitable action finale arrives it provides suitable bang for buck.
I should note that along with the real life rap stars Ninja and Yolindi Hugh Jackman's Vincent is an odd creation with some bizarre quirks.
Jackman has a dodgy mullet hairdo and frequently wears safari shorts. He is also inclined to carry a pistol in the office even though he is not a soldier any more and spends most of his life in a tiny cubicle.
(Don't get me wrong- I would love to pack a glock at my workplace but I don't think the annoyances of the modern office and fifteen 9mm bullets are a good mix)
Yolindi delivers the better performance of the three and is pretty good and much more interesting as a character.
Disappointment sets in early with "Chappie" and the fault lies only partly with the derivative nature of it all.
It is flat and lifeless with few characters worth caring about.
Chappie becomes that but by the time he has morphed into a 'fleshed' out character it is all but too late.
Weaver is yet again completely wasted in a bland role and whoever designed Jackman's hair and costumes should be shot.
The action is mostly fine although there are too many convenient moments when previously crackshot characters can't hit the side of a barn (humans AND robots).
Its solid all in all but nowhere near exciting or frequent enough to make up for the other shortcomings and ultimately "Chappie" just chugs along almost interesting, almost exciting and almost worth the ticket price.
If this one sounds intriguing then you might be better served watching "Short Circuit", "Robocop" and "AI" - each of these gives you focussed versions of the stuff "Chappie" hints at but misses.
RATING: 65 / 100
CONCLUSION: Some great ideas squandered- Blomkamp is starting to look like a one trick pony.
Starring: Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Ninja, Yolandi Visser, Sigourney Weaver Running Time: 120 minutes
Rated: R13 - A lot of F bombs and some occasionally bloody violence
To start with I need to confess something in the interests of full disclosure....
I do not understand what the fuss is over writer-director Neill Blomkamp.
I liked his debut feature "District 9" without actually loving it.
He knows how to direct special effects and brought a certain freshness to the science fiction genre.
And let's not forget that he introduced the wider planet to the talent of Sharlto Copley.
Then came "Elysium" and it was not great given that I had high hopes that this would be the film that would make me understand what a lot of my friends were raving about when they announced the young South African filmmaker as the saviour of a genre.
And now amidst rumours and subsequently apparent confirmation that Blomkamp will be creating an official Aliens sequel his latest movie arrives- "Chappie".
Maybe the third time is the charm?
And... no.
No, it isn't and it brings me no pleasure to say it (or write it)
There is a pattern emerging with Blomkamp's work.
Science Fiction, South Africa and Sharlto Copley of course but then he is hardly the first director to specialise, favour his homeland or consistently use the same leading man.
Rather I am referring to what I call the Andrew Niccol syndrome.
This is a cinematic affliction that results in a very strong central concept with a compelling setup and a completely botched final act.
Refer to Niccol's "S1mOne", Lord of War", "The Host" and "In Time".
Blomkamp narrowly avoided it with "District 9", fell complete victim to it with "Elysium" and royally suffers from it with "Chappie".
Had that been the only issue maybe I would view this film as the 7 out of 10's I consider his previous ones.
 |
| Which HR complaint to make first? The gun, the sexual harassment, the mullet or those shorts? |
As we see faux documentary footage and fake Anderson Cooper TV broadcasts it recalls not only "District 9" but Paul Verhoeven's 1987 classic "Robocop".
This is a story about a violence ridden city (Johannesburg in place of Detroit) that finds a solution in a robot police force.
Blomkamp manages to not only 'borrow' liberally from Verhoeven but even more so from his own work.
There are very definite flavours of "District 9" in here and to a slightly lesser degree "Elysium" with the setting, production design and attempts at satire.
You can also add "Wall E" and "Short Circuit" into the mix.
This is basically the story of a machine intended for violent purposes turning into a lovable robot at odds with the world he was created to control.
But "Chappie" (the movie) still really, really wants to be "Robocop".
Unsurprisingly the result is a movie struggling for an identity of its own and sadly never quite finding one.
It is frustrating because there are some good ideas in here.
 |
| Rival engineers, punk gangs and greedy tech CEO's.... yep - "Robocop" |
Artificial Intelligence has long been a science fiction staple but Blomkamp and co-wrtier Terri Tatchell seem to be about to delve deeply into the question of at what point does AI count as a genuine soul?
Cleverly the writing duo has their lead character develop as a human newborn would.
Chappie must learn words and how to speak and what hurts him and who his 'parents' and even 'God' are.
God in this case is the creator- Dev Patel's genius programmer Deon.
There is a very effective exchange where Chappie who has a battery issue that effectively gives him a lifespan questions his creator as to why he would make him only to die.
But this along with the question of what a soul is and is violence justifiable in the service of saving others is only half examined at best.
It isn't all bad news though.
Blomkamp once again proves how good he is with not only effects action sequences but subtle effects scenes too.
The design of Chappie is very good even if the one orange 'ear' seems a little Gwyneth's-haircut-in-Sliding-Doors-ish so we can tell him from the other robots he is a fine creation.
Copley does an utterly fantastic job in voicing and performing the motion capture for the titular robot and deserves a better movie for his efforts.
The 'bad' robot controlled by Hugh Jackman's character is ridiculously reminiscent of ED209 from "Robocop" - even the knee joints are identical.
Even so it is a nicely rendered villain and when the inevitable action finale arrives it provides suitable bang for buck.
I should note that along with the real life rap stars Ninja and Yolindi Hugh Jackman's Vincent is an odd creation with some bizarre quirks.
Jackman has a dodgy mullet hairdo and frequently wears safari shorts. He is also inclined to carry a pistol in the office even though he is not a soldier any more and spends most of his life in a tiny cubicle.
(Don't get me wrong- I would love to pack a glock at my workplace but I don't think the annoyances of the modern office and fifteen 9mm bullets are a good mix)
Yolindi delivers the better performance of the three and is pretty good and much more interesting as a character.
 |
| WARNING: The images above make this movie look way, way better than it actually is |
It is flat and lifeless with few characters worth caring about.
Chappie becomes that but by the time he has morphed into a 'fleshed' out character it is all but too late.
Weaver is yet again completely wasted in a bland role and whoever designed Jackman's hair and costumes should be shot.
The action is mostly fine although there are too many convenient moments when previously crackshot characters can't hit the side of a barn (humans AND robots).
Its solid all in all but nowhere near exciting or frequent enough to make up for the other shortcomings and ultimately "Chappie" just chugs along almost interesting, almost exciting and almost worth the ticket price.
If this one sounds intriguing then you might be better served watching "Short Circuit", "Robocop" and "AI" - each of these gives you focussed versions of the stuff "Chappie" hints at but misses.
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