In 2004 Neill Blomkamp made a short film called Tetra Vaal, about a weapons corporation who make police robots. It was smart, innovative and it looked incredible.
This short gave birth to the idea of Chappie, a robot designed to be law enforcement whose maker, Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) discovers a way to give Chappie artificial intelligence. And so, Chappie is born, learning very quickly under the guidance/parenting of Wilson, Ninja and Yo-landi Visser (the South African hip hop outfit, Die Antwoord) and Yankie (Jose Pablo Cantillo from The Walking Dead), Chappie grows into an amalgam of moral sense and street-smarts.
Wilson works for the company Tetra Vaal, which is a weapons manufacturer run by Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver) as does Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman sporting a haircut from the bogan barber). Wilson is an engineer at heart and wants to advance his research with the A.I. but is stopped by Bradley as she feels it is not worth the companies money. He goes ahead anyway downloading the consciousness into a robot headed for the scrap heap and fun ensues.
I was looking forward to this film a lot, having avoided Elysium due to poor reviews, I was excited about the prospect of Blomkamp revisiting his original story.
It is a fun film that isn’t amazing but manages to entertain. The problem is the script that is just not tight enough. There are holes and leaps that defy logic, and I’m not talking about putting consciousness into a machine, that, I can suspend my disbelief for, it’s more about the composition of the story-telling. It doesn’t quite gel. Jackman is uninspiring, not terrible, he can act, maybe he’s miscast or more likely, his role is not fleshed out enough, a stereotypical villain role.
The effects, like in District 9 are great, seeing Chappie go to work is a joy.
It is strange that Ninja and Yo-landi are ostensibly playing the characters they utilize in Die Antwoord and using their own names, an unnecessary choice on behalf of Blomkamp. It was fun seeing them do their thing, though.
The problem with Blomkamp’s work to date is the scriptage. D9 was so different that any qualms were quashed by the journey but here it feels that he has work to do. There is potential, masses of it, but it falls just a tad short.
Worth a watch if you are into sci-fi, robots and big concepts.
3/5
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the movie musings 
I’m still unsure about this one. All the negativity has killed the buzz a little for me. Good review, though. Yours seems a lot more balanced of a review than many Iv’e read.
Thanks, man. Much appreciated.
It’s not the best film but a lot more entertaining than the rest.
Worth a look if the ideas interest you.
Thanks for stopping by.
I’m easily sold on science-fiction, and I’m always willing to find out for myself (despite reviews) if a film in that genre is any good or not. I like to support the genre as much as possible. Intelligent sci-fi is where I like my imagination tickling.
Yeah man. I love it when my mind gets blown by great sci-fi. Have you seen Ex Machina yet? I haven’t but have been told it’s worth a punt. There is so much dreck out there, it’s a minefield. I’m all about the quality. Defo worth looking at it yourself. I avoided reviews of Chappie as I didn’t want to be influenced. Glad I saw it.
Oh yes, I can’t wait to get Ex-Machina down my eyeholes. Looks and sounds right up my street. I’m with yu on the quality. Apparently, there’s 16,000 film released every year, roughly. Ideally, I’d be the completist and watch them all, but we have to choose wisely.
Totally. Choosing wisely is the key, bro.
The problem is not the really terrible films that are easy to spot, more tbe ones on the cusp. Great concepts, average delivery. It’s the average ones that can be tricksy.
What are your favourites in the genre?
I’ll plum for:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Fantastic Planet
Alien/Aliens
The Thing
and obviously the original Star Wars trilogy. There are more but wondered what your faves are.
Great choices. In no particular order, I’ll go with
Alien/Aliens (Prometheus controversially)
The Terminator/T2
Star Wars (original trilogy)
Moon
Total Recall
The Matrix
Back to the Future (1&2).
Recently – Under the Skin. LOVED that film. Very Kubrick. If you love 2001, you should dig it.
Oh dear, I realise how mainstream that list is. But hey, great cinema is great cinema.
Great choices yourself, bro. Loved Moon (and all the other on your list).
Still not seen Under The Skin yet but your recommendation will spur me into action.
Have you seen Coherence? Less mainstream, quite recent and mind-messing.
No, I have’t even heard of it. I’ll flick over to IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes to give it a scout. Thank you. Great to meet yu, by the way. I’ll be keeping a close eye on your blog from now onwards.
Yeah, check it out. Maybe don’t research at all. Just find and watch. I knew nothing about it and was very pleasantly surprised.
Nice to meet you too, bro.