Chappie | Movie Review

When District 9 hit theaters, Neill Blomkamp became something of a cinematic wunderkind. Setting his fairly low-budget science fiction film deep in the slums of South Africa, using abandoned aliens to address the rampant racism of his homeland, Blomkamp instantly became the sci-fi director to watch. His first movie made over $100 million and was nominated for Best Picture, do things get much more successful than that? His follow-up, Elysium, maintained his political mindset yet was not as financially successful, therefore it was seen as a small step down from the highs of District 9.

Blomkamp’s third go-round all but abandons his social activist nature and instead he chooses to focus solely on crafting an entertaining action ride. Chappie stars Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel as Deon, a brilliant developer responsible for creating an army of robotic police officers who have managed to positively impact the criminal elements of Johannesburg. Deon has also built a computerized consciousness meant to afford robots the ability to mentally learn, feel, and grow the same way humans do. Of course, Deon’s financial backers and boss (Sigourney Weaver, in what amounts to a glorified cameo) have no interest in robots who think or feel, leaving Deon between a microchip and a hard place.

Enter Amerika, Ninja and Yolandi (Jose Cantillo and real-life rappers Ninja and Yolandi). After a botched drug deal where they somehow owe a local kingpin millions, these blundering thugs plot a heist that requires them to kidnap Deon and steal a magical key that will somehow render Johannesburg’s entire robotic police force useless. Since this key does not actually exist, they allow Deon to construct a robot cop of their own, utilizing his consciousness program, and ‘teach’ him to be their weapon of mass destruction. As Chappie (voiced by Blomkamp staple, Sharlto Copley) emerges as a robot with childlike influences, innocent yet dangerous, Deon’s villainous counterpart (Hugh Jackman) schemes to destroy all that he has built. Including Chappie himself.

If you want nothing more than spectacular effects, Chappie will not disappoint. It only takes minutes before Blomkamp’s creation fully vests itself in your psyche as a real and tangible character. Both the visuals and Copley’s spot-on delivery sell Chappie as an absolute reality. So much so that throughout the course of the film, I came to genuinely care about Chappie’s fate and where his situation was headed. Every time he hurt, I hurt. His innocence bordered on infectious. The problem is that he also becomes the only character any of us give a damn about.

The reason is due to both story and acting. Why Blomkamp decided to put millions of dollars of faith into untested rappers like Ninja and Yolandi is anyone’s guess, but the choice is radically off course. Yolandi is the more successful of the two, as she occasionally ventures close to a heartfelt performance. Ninja, on the other hand, seems to think he has stumbled into a Cohen Brothers’ comedy. While the entire cinematic world around him is steeped in real-world strife, Ninja consistently acts like he is stuck in a bad rap version of Breakin’ 2. As they continue to educate Chappie, they infuse more and more grossly outdated gangsta clichés to his vernacular and bling to his armor. While that joke is funny the first time or two it plays, seeing an emotive robot spout off about busting a cap in someone’s ass for an hour and a half quickly grows tiresome.

As for the rest of the cast, we can chop it up to lazy scripting. Jackman does a fine job with a horribly underwritten role as Vincent, the megalomaniac weapons designer set off due to a twisted sense of righteousness. Of all the actors here that try and fail to impress, Jackman is giving the material his best shot.  Patel is also ‘fine’ as Deon, a role as generic as they come and Patel simply is not the actor needed to elevate the material. Cantillo fares best as the only criminal with what seems like more than one dimension to him, yet the script does him no favors in the long run either.

What we are left with is Blomkamp’s vision of Short Circuit via the backdrop of Robocop. Yes, cutesy family comedy meshed with horrifically violent action set-pieces. This sounds like magic (Johnny Five for adults!), but the conflicting tones never seem to find steady footing and we end up spending half the movie trying to figure out exactly what Blomkamp is trying to tell us. Is this just a chippy take on Robocop? Is artificial intelligence more human than ourselves? Or maybe just how gangsta can a robot be? After spending two hours with Chappie, I still have no idea.

I have idealized both of Blomkamp’s previous efforts to varying degrees and this is the first indication I have had that he may need stronger reins on his storytelling. Sometimes, even a visionary director could use a few studio notes.

Blomkamp and writing partner Terri Tatchell introduce several brilliant ideas throughout the course of the film, especially as we ramble on through the final reel. Elements of A.I., consciousness, how we determine ‘What is alive’, and several other intelligent ideologies make their presence known. Unfortunately, each and every time we shift forward to the edge of our seats in anticipation, we are then treated to some lame play on rapper lingo. After a while, you just begin to sit back and accept the mediocrity.

Chappie is a fully realized character in a world of underwritten ones. Every step it takes towards greatness, results in one step back in believability. As Blomkamp heads off for his foray into the Alien franchise, my faith is not yet lost. He has an unmistakable eye for visuals and has shown twice before he has something meaningful to say. I only hope that next time he leaves the bling at home.

Starring Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Ninja
Written by Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Directed by Neill Blomkamp

Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider