Chappie: Movie

This wasn’t a bad movie. The concept was pretty good and Sharlto Copley was amazing, as usual. I just wish they could’ve decided to stick to what they wanted to be. There are a lot of movies about AI versus consciousness lately as I mentioned in my “Ex_Machina” review. This one is very entertaining, but also a bit of a mess. It seems as though Neill Blomkamp had a lot of topics he wanted address about without wanting to really commit to any of them. There are themes of oppression and totalitarianism in the robot police force that lead into themes of social chaos when they break down.

There are themes of corporate greed and commercialism that are never fully fleshed out, even with Hugh Jackman’s completely one note character. He seemed to be having some fun with it and he was able to speak in his native accent, but there was just nothing for him to really do. He was kind of just kind of a douche from beginning to end. Sigourney Weaver was another big name that could’ve been replaced with someone much smaller. Again there was just not enough for her to work with.

Only Dev Patel (who is brilliantly emotional), Jose Pablo Cantillo (who I haven’t seen a bad performance from yet) and relative unknowns Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser are given anything to work with. Actor’s of this notoriety level are better for this kind of movie. Seeing as how Copley (who truly brought Chappie to life) was a relative unknown when Blomkamp made “District 9,” he should know that you don’t need big names to make a hit. Attaching Weaver and Jackman to this movie seemed to be just a ploy to get tickets in hands and a**es in seats. However, ploys like this tend to backfire when the movie doesn’t match the expectations of quality. In this day and age, information travels way to fast to resort to casting trickery, it only hurts the movie and the reputations of the cast and crew in the long run.

Nature versus nurture was another theme that played a pretty big part in the movie. Possibly the biggest. Deon taught Chappie morality early on and he sticks with it until it becomes a matter of life and death for him. Luckily he manages to save his reputation by switching bodies remotely. Only the lighting fast processing speed of his computer brain (which doesn’t seem sophisticated enough to hold a human or humanlike consciousness in the other million of these robots) could solve the issue of transferring a mind. I honestly got a chill in my spine as I was reminded of both the “Robocop” remake and the dreaded “Skyline,” while watching the ending. There was so much unexplained and unfounded science that I just felt annoyed by the time the credits showed up like an old friend.

Social commentary piece or coming of age story? Drama or goofy comedy? These are the questions that I just can’t figure out while watching this movie. Even the shoehorning of the gang boss that threatened Chappie’s “family” seemed a little forced, even though it served a decent motivational purpose. If it wasn’t for the fantastic performances and visual effects, this movie would have very few redeeming qualities. I just think the writing could benefitted from some more effort and research. Chappie might work pretty well as children’s movie, but there’s far too much harsh language and violence for that. I know Blomkamp can do much better though. I’ve seen District 9 and Elysium. I suppose they can’t all be winners.

Jonathan Jones

Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.