Chappie, 2015.
Directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver and Jose Pablo Cantillo.
SYNOPSIS:
In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.
Neill Blomkamp certainly has some intriguing sci-fi concepts imbued with relevant social themes, but with Elysium the execution was off, and it is once again with Chappie. Saying the execution was off is a major understatement however, as Chappie is a straight-up disaster, from the script, to the acting, and even the production. It also doesn’t help that Blomkamp has essentially crafted District 9 for the third time, lifting all of his central themes and locations from the movie that brought him to the dance. Chappie is easily the worst film in the director’s portfolio, and a mess of a film in general, but the most disappointing part is that somewhere within lies a good movie.
The central focus of Chappie lies with the robot’s association with two rapper gangsters (Ninja and Yolandi of the South American rap group Die Antwoord) who essentially play slightly more despicable versions of their real-life counterparts. Their goal is to nurture the robot into becoming a cold-blooded killer that can assist them with their life of crime, while the actual creator of the robot (Deon played by Dev Patel) struggles with trying to take the robot back so that he can raise it for a good purpose, is not a bad idea on paper. However, it fails horrendously and for one reason…
Die Antwoord
Chappie is an insufferable movie to watch thanks to the painfully atrocious acting from these two. Think back to high school when you knew that one kid that acted “gangsta” and came across as a blithering idiot that you wanted to punch straight in the face. Now picture that person but 10 times worse and with a South American accent. That exactly sums up these clowns; stereotypical gangsters that will grate on your every nerve to the point where honestly, you may not be able to take the movie unless you just uncontrollably laugh at every single one of Ninja’s lines.
“Yo Yo Chappie, hold your gun like this, like a real man”
* cocks gun sideways like a complete moron*
Their abhorrent acting isn’t what sets me off most though, but rather the fact that these two are complete pieces of garbage in real life too. On the set of Chappie, Ninja physically abused female set workers, told co-star Dev Patel he was going to show him around a South African neighborhood but ended up dropping him off in the hood with illegal drugs, and was an all around disgusting human being. The fact that someone like him could get a huge paycheck for filming a blockbuster movie is downright sickening. What is Blomkamp’s fascination with casting rappers in his films; he tried to cast Eminem for Elysium, casted these two morons for Chappie, and at this rate will probably cast Iggy Azalea for his upcoming Alien project.
Acting woes aside, Chappie wastes every interesting concept it has and never delves deeper into whatever themes it is trying to present. Instead, we got Chappie running around with a gold chain wrapped around his neck tossing ninja stars at people while hijacking cars for Ninja. The whole movie is one gigantic unintentional comedy that eventually does get serious towards the end, but just makes up a bunch of crap to resolve all the conflict in the film.
Oh yeah, Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver are in this movie too, but they are also completely wasted. Jackman is supposed to be a villain but the depth of his character essentially amounts to “Hey, Wolverine is using his Australian accent!” Chappie is a train-wreck that should only be seen if you actively want to laugh at how something so promising could wind up so horrible
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder – An aficionado of film, wrestling, and gaming. Follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMekjOsexHs&list=PL18yMRIfoszH_jfuJoo8HCG1-lGjvfH2F&feature=player_embedded
Originally published March 8, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
