Chappie
Year: 2015
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Hugh Jackman, Ninja, Dev Patel & Yolandi Visser
Runtime: 120 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 24/07/23
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Hugh Jackman, Ninja, Dev Patel & Yolandi Visser
Runtime: 120 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 24/07/23
Despite Elysium not achieving the same kind of critical acclaim that District 9 did, it did go on to have a strong box office gross, and it still received enough of a positive critical response for Neill Blomkamp to still be considered one of the most inventive new directors in the business. So expectations were still high for Blomkamp’s third feature, and when Chappie was first revealed the idea seemed like such a cool concept. An A.I that’s kind of a gangsta, a robot that grew up on the streets, a totally different take on the genre than we had seen before. But when Chappie did release, critical response was mixed to say the least, and the box office figures just didn’t deliver. So, what went wrong with Chappie?
To combat skyrocketing crime rates, the city of Johannesburg, South Africa purchases a large number of ‘scout’ robots from tech company Tetravaal. The scouts replace human cops on the streets in order to reduce human casualties, and thanks to their considerable effectiveness have led to a significant decrease in criminal activity.
Scout creator Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) has developed the next stage of robotic evolution with a free thinking A.I. program, allowing for the scouts to think for themselves and be applied in a greater number of applications than just law enforcement. But when his test robot is stolen by gangsters Ninja (Ninja), Yolandi (Yolandi Visser), and Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo), the robot who becomes known as Chappie (Sharlto Copley) struggles to learn the difference between right and wrong. Meanwhile, Deon’s rival Vincent (Hugh Jackman) uses this opportunity to hammer home the need for human controlled robotics.
Chappie is certainly a fun spin on the A.I genre. Where so often the computer is made out to be this hyper intelligent machine that threatens humanity (see The Terminator, or basically any other A.I related action movie), in Chappie it’s starting out from true infancy, not connected to any network, and learning from its environment. This means that Chappie as a character only knows what it’s told by whoever is speaking to it, and like a child it makes mistakes and must learn who to trust.
In terms of story this makes Chappie a bit of a mixed bag, and a lot of that comes down to the characters.
To combat skyrocketing crime rates, the city of Johannesburg, South Africa purchases a large number of ‘scout’ robots from tech company Tetravaal. The scouts replace human cops on the streets in order to reduce human casualties, and thanks to their considerable effectiveness have led to a significant decrease in criminal activity.
Scout creator Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) has developed the next stage of robotic evolution with a free thinking A.I. program, allowing for the scouts to think for themselves and be applied in a greater number of applications than just law enforcement. But when his test robot is stolen by gangsters Ninja (Ninja), Yolandi (Yolandi Visser), and Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo), the robot who becomes known as Chappie (Sharlto Copley) struggles to learn the difference between right and wrong. Meanwhile, Deon’s rival Vincent (Hugh Jackman) uses this opportunity to hammer home the need for human controlled robotics.
Chappie is certainly a fun spin on the A.I genre. Where so often the computer is made out to be this hyper intelligent machine that threatens humanity (see The Terminator, or basically any other A.I related action movie), in Chappie it’s starting out from true infancy, not connected to any network, and learning from its environment. This means that Chappie as a character only knows what it’s told by whoever is speaking to it, and like a child it makes mistakes and must learn who to trust.
In terms of story this makes Chappie a bit of a mixed bag, and a lot of that comes down to the characters.
Unfortunately, the human characters are all really horrible people. I understand that each of them is flawed, something that Chappie is then supposed to contend with, but none of them are actual likeable people to begin with. Deon has a serious god complex and refuses to refer to Chappie as anything else but ‘his creation’, and constantly wants to be referred to as ‘the creator’, he’s supposed to mirror the disappointed parent, witnessing their child throw away their potential, but he comes across as a massive cock.
Then Ninja is just a real nasty piece of work, a two-bit gangster who thinks he’s hot shut but is a small fry in comparison to the real gangsters out there. Yolandi acts as Chappie’s mother figure, and the one true source of good in his life, but she makes no attempt to protect him from Ninja, nor stop Deon from projecting his holier than though mantra which just makes her seem vacant other than when the script calls for it. And Vincent is only there because apparently the script needs a villain, it feels like he was added in last minute to give the story someone who’s actually morally evil, but I think the story would have been considerably better without him.
Jackman is the only on-screen actor that delivers a strong performance, and whilst his character is basically totally pointless, he does at least make the performance memorable unlike the rest of the human cast.
The only proper standout performance is from Copley, who gives one of the most convincing robotic performances I’ve ever seen. His physical presence was achieved not by traditional motion capture, but by mapping a CGI model by hand over Copley’s body.
The result is really quite impressive, and Copley portrays this childlike character excellently.
Then Ninja is just a real nasty piece of work, a two-bit gangster who thinks he’s hot shut but is a small fry in comparison to the real gangsters out there. Yolandi acts as Chappie’s mother figure, and the one true source of good in his life, but she makes no attempt to protect him from Ninja, nor stop Deon from projecting his holier than though mantra which just makes her seem vacant other than when the script calls for it. And Vincent is only there because apparently the script needs a villain, it feels like he was added in last minute to give the story someone who’s actually morally evil, but I think the story would have been considerably better without him.
Jackman is the only on-screen actor that delivers a strong performance, and whilst his character is basically totally pointless, he does at least make the performance memorable unlike the rest of the human cast.
The only proper standout performance is from Copley, who gives one of the most convincing robotic performances I’ve ever seen. His physical presence was achieved not by traditional motion capture, but by mapping a CGI model by hand over Copley’s body.
The result is really quite impressive, and Copley portrays this childlike character excellently.
The film is constantly building towards a heist that Ninja and Yolanda need to pull off or they face being killed by another gangster. With the way that Deon has tried to teach Chappie about morality, this poses an interesting dilemma for Chappie. If he follows the rules then Ninja will hurt Chappie because he needs him for this heist, but if he does the heist then Chappie will be a bad person and he doesn’t want that. That’s one of the most compelling parts of the entire film, and I do like how Blomkamp explores this through Copley’s performance.
However, in true Blomkamp fashion, this ends with a massive action sequence for the finale and once again it feels out of place. It’s not quite as out of place here as it was in District 9 and even Elysium, but I feel that these ideas Blomkamp has are best explored away from action scenes, and yet he’s always trying to put them in.
Like Elysium, Chappie is a brilliant concept with some flawed execution. It needs better human characters; they really are the Achilles heel of the whole film. But I would say that unlike Elysium the film is worth checking out despite its flaws. The ideas are far more unique that those of Elysium’s, and combined with Copley’s incredible performance I think Chappie is a film I’m going to remember for a long time. It’s still a far cry from the near perfection of District 9, but there’s still a lot to like about Chappie.
However, in true Blomkamp fashion, this ends with a massive action sequence for the finale and once again it feels out of place. It’s not quite as out of place here as it was in District 9 and even Elysium, but I feel that these ideas Blomkamp has are best explored away from action scenes, and yet he’s always trying to put them in.
Like Elysium, Chappie is a brilliant concept with some flawed execution. It needs better human characters; they really are the Achilles heel of the whole film. But I would say that unlike Elysium the film is worth checking out despite its flaws. The ideas are far more unique that those of Elysium’s, and combined with Copley’s incredible performance I think Chappie is a film I’m going to remember for a long time. It’s still a far cry from the near perfection of District 9, but there’s still a lot to like about Chappie.