What can I say about this mish mash…?
After the earlier success of District 9, a documentary style take on
aliens landing in Johannesburg, Neil Blomkamp once again enlists the help of
Sharlto Copley for this story about a robot who gains consciousness, once again
set in the South African city of gold.
In a country where criminals have run rampant, police robots
have been deployed to bring things under control, and they have worked
spectacularly well. The designer of these robots eventually succeeds in
developing AI consciousness which he uploads (against company instructions)
into a robot that was destined to be destroyed. The robot, named Chappie, ends
up in the hands of a band of criminals (played by South African rap band, Die
Antwoord) who use him to carry out various illegal acts. When a jealous fellow
developer sabotages the police robots and tries to destroy Chappie, he shows
his mettle and tries to save those that he loves.
This is such a strange movie. I can’t help thinking it was
merely a vehicle for Die Antwoord to showcase their acting skills, which
actually aren’t too bad. (I still can’t believe how big they are in America,
being something of a parody – I cannot stand their music, and I use that term
very loosely.) Considering they pretty much play their roles of Ninja and
Yo-Landi Vi$$er every time they are in public, I guess they are used to these
characters and playing your alter ego is a lot easier than playing something
completely different. Still, they did a pretty good job of it, playing the doting
“Mommy” and no good “Daddy” to robot child Chappie.
Chappie (Sharlto Copley) initially reminded me of a scared
puppy dog when he first gains consciousness, but evolves into a child-like
entity, and it is this innocence and naivety that makes his mistreatment at the
hands of various characters seem so dastardly. Chappie soon learns about human
nature and it really is a sad commentary on the human race.
The big names in this movie, to me, are entirely wasted,
perhaps with the exception of Dev Patel, playing the robot designer, Deon
Wilson. Sigourney Weaver, as the company CEO doesn’t get too much screen time
and her character is completely one dimensional. Hugh Jackman plays villain
number 1, the designer of the Moose robot, whose machine gets rejected by the
police force as being overkill. Although he gets a lot more screen time than
Sigourney, I feel that his character, too, is flat and cartoon villain-y with
no redeeming aspects to his character. This, too is where some of the plot is a
bit silly – Jackman is jealous that his robots are not suitable for police
work, but it is obvious that its strengths would suit the defence force, and
actually I spotted a SANDF (South African National Defence Force) sticker/stamp
on it, so surely that should be his target market??
Villain number 2 is even more outlandish and cartoony than
Hugh Jackman’s character. Hippo is the gangster to whom Ninja owes money.
Brandon Auret’s physique is impressively intimidating even if not fitness model
standard, but Hippo reminded me a bit of the Tasmanian Devil – a bit unhinged
with a speech pattern that leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, what even was
that accent he put on?? Ugh.
I think this was a movie that could really have been great,
but has somehow turned into a big mess. There were some subtle comedy moments -
I especially liked the bit where a pitch was being made to police officials who
seemed more interested in polishing off the free biscuits than in what was
being said – and Die Antwoord were surprisingly good, but numerous plot holes,
crazy ass single dimensional villains and in my opinion, Chappie not being able
to meaningfully connect with the audience let this film down. 6/10
