Chappie (2015)

In the near future, crime is patrolled by a 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.

Director:

Neill Blomkamp

Writers:

Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

Stars:

Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sharlto Copley	...	Chappie
Dev Patel	...	Deon Wilson
Ninja	...	Ninja
Yo-Landi Visser	...	Yo-Landi (as ¥o-Landi Vi$$er)
Jose Pablo Cantillo	...	Yankie (Amerika)
Hugh Jackman	...	Vincent Moore
Sigourney Weaver	...	Michelle Bradley
Brandon Auret	...	Hippo
Johnny Selema	...	Pitbull (as Johnny K. Selema)
Anderson Cooper	...	Anderson Cooper
Maurice Carpede	...	Police Chief
Jason Cope	...	Tetravaal Lead Mechanic
Kevin Otto	...	Interviewer
Chris Shields	...	Journalist
Bill Marchant	...	Professor

Storyline

In Johannesburg, the police department reduced the high rating of criminality using robots from the Tetravaal Company, designed by the engineer Deon Wilson. The former military Vincent Moore is envious of Deon, since he has developed another project called Moose, but neither Tetravaal nor the police department is interested. Deon has just developed an Artificial Intelligence but the Tetravaal's CEO Michelle Bradley asks him to abort the project. Deon decides to bring the damaged Robot 22 that was sent to be crushed to test his A.I. However he is kidnapped by the criminals Ninja, Yo-Landi and Amerika that want him to stop the robot cops. When they see the damaged robot in the van, they force Deon to program it to heist banks with them and they call it Chappie. However, Chappie acts like a child and need to be trained to learn and grow. Meanwhile Vincent follows Deon and plots an evil scheme to activate his robot.

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Plot Keywords:

artificial intelligence | robot | future | mind uploading | consciousness | 

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Taglines:

Like your kid's so normal.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA South Africa

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 2015 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Capis

Filming Locations:

Johannesburg, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$49,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$13,346,782 (USA) (6 March 2015)

Gross:

$31,569,268 (USA) (1 May 2015)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Media Rights Capital (MRC), LStar Capital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color (ACES)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Biehn was asked by Neill Blomkamp to audition for the role then played by Sigourney Weaver, Biehn's Obcy - decydujące starcie (1986) costar.

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Goofs

When Vincent Moore was presenting his Moose robot to the police chiefs, his hair was closely trim above the forehead. After they rejected his pitch, Vincent went into a washroom and his hair was noticeably longer, as well as his beard being a bit scruffier now.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Journalist: Historically, when we look at evolution, it's not surprising that uh... Chappie's left turn... uh... happened.
Professor: It's too early to tell how this is all going to play out. I didn't believe that this would happen in my lifetime, but... but it is happening.

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits appears "Be Moved" in large font.

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Connections

References Miasteczko South Park (1997)

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Soundtracks

Happy Go S*cky F*cky
Written by Ninja, Yo-Landi Visser (as ¥o-Landi Vi$$er), D.J. Hi-Tek (as DJ Hi-Tek), Motohiro Kawashima
Performed by Die Antwoord
Courtesy of Zef Records

User Reviews

Funny, Violent, Heart-warming, Heart-wrenching, Thought-provoking story

I went into Chappie as a huge fan of the gritty action and social commentary of District 9. I expected that this would be more of the same. Both are still present, but surprisingly, with laughs.

This is one of the more entertaining movies from every angle that I've seen in awhile. I described it as I left as funny, sad, uplifting, dark, light, silly, and tense.

The center of the story is Chappie. He is a hero you want to shelter, even though you want him to learn. But even as you love his curiosity, you fear his naiveté. He is the most complex character, and gives a fascinating paradigm into how children must receive and process human society and contradiction. There are some inconsistencies in Chappie's character (is he already programmed to raise his voice if he's scared, or did he learn that?), but he still succeeds as a dynamic, independent being.

Yes, the humans characters are flat. They are merely roles. The Maker. The Villain. Mommy and Daddy. The friend. But as Chappie begins to learn, you see why they have to be flat. They are trying to exert influence on a (robotic) child. Therefore, they must simplify their own motivations and desires into the most basic explanations possible for Chappie to understand. This leads to hilarious imitation and thought-provoking perspectives.

Chappie's curiosity was once ours. Chappie's confusion was once ours. Watching Chappie is like watching a sped-up version of childhood social and moral development, with all of the Hollywood tension, explosions, and naughty words to keep you interested, too. There are parts to laugh at because it's funny, parts to laugh at because the costuming and set design is ridiculous, but you still end up thinking seriously the whole time.

Give it a chance. You might love it. I did.