Chappie (2015) User Reviews

"RoboCop" meets "Short Circuit"

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 26 December 2015]

Concerns over the use of drones to kill people and the use of military equipment by police make Neill Blomkamp's "Chappie" more relevant. The use of an all-robot police force recalls "RoboCop", while the concept of a droid who has human qualities brings to mind "Short Circuit" and "AI: Artificial Intelligence"*. Although some scenes in the movie come across as silly, I interpreted it as a warning about over-reliance on technology for law enforcement. The South African setting makes sense: four decades of institutionalized racism gave way to one of the highest crime rates in the developed world.

In the end, I recommend the movie. It's understood that Chappie simply wants to be able to live like everyone else. The plot holes don't drag the movie down at all. Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel (of "Slumdog Millionaire"), Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman put on fine performances.

*Another movie focusing on a robot with human qualities is "Robot & Frank", starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon.

Mixed thoughts on this one: Much more intelligent than the average flick, but not really good

[FairlyAnonymous · 6/10 · 8 March 2015]

Chappie is an interesting film because it could be ridiculed for random themes and inconsistent story, or it could be praised for the fact that it brings up a lot of ambitious ideas and concepts.

It is a really interesting film as far as themes go. The movie brings up a lot of ideas that aren't brought up in most "AI" films such as: Does the robot recognize his own mortality? Does the robot feel guilt? How does the robot react to having one parent being a criminal and the other parent being a respectful scientist? There were a lot of scenes where I was thinking "Dang, this could lead to a pretty cool concept".

Unfortunately, the movie never fleshes out any of its themes.

It is always very sad to see a movie like this: A movie that has all the right elements to be good, but it gets too distracted in being too many things so it never gets any of the elements right. For example, one of the ingenious themes is the fact that Chappie has two parents: A scientist and a very violent thug. On one side Chappie is learning about the basics of language and how to be a model citizen, but on the other side he is learning how to properly mug people, how to fight, how to talk cool, how to walk cool, and how to earn respect from other people. This is very interesting because the movie never starts Chappie out as super intelligent, it starts him out as a very quick learning child. This means you can see him slowly learn and make connections between every event in his life.

A great example of this is Chappie is told that knives make people go to sleep, so naturally Chappie tries to stab people until he is told that they don't want to go to sleep. However, when Chappie starts stabbing people later, you see him pause and looks into someone's eyes and say "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Don't go to sleep". But he says it very quietly so that no one else can hear.

These are some very deep and interesting themes and Chappie is a very interesting character. Unfortunately, it never fleshes out its themes. This means a lot of very profound themes will fly by in about five minutes and not show up later. This also brings us to one hilarious big issue with the movie:

Every scene involving the villain makes little to no sense. It's not that I don't mind Hugh Jackman, or the approach they were taking, it was how insane and over the top he becomes. He is supposed to be playing a local engineer/scientist who wants to make human controlled mechs that are grossly over-powered for the job of law enforcement. Instead of modifying his idea and making it work for the job, he still says that law-enforcement needs a mech with... mini-guns, claws, machine guns, rockets, cluster missiles, and just about anything you can think of. It really makes no sense to want that on the street. This brings up several questions: Why not just sell it to the military? He does work for a weapons company so if not law enforcement why not military (He was hinted at being an ex- solider/Veteran). So his obsession doesn't really make sense: If he really wants human controlled machines, then make one less overpowered. If he really wants an overpowered mech, then sell it to the military.

However, because he doesn't do either of these, he becomes an insane psychopath who literally shuts down all of the security/robots in the city just to prove that they need heavier firepower for the job. This brings up a lot of plot-holes: How was he able to do this so easily? Any company (even your local cable company) can track a computer that is shutting down other equipment. How did no one notice him doing this? Why didn't the protagonist tell anyone else that he was doing this? How was he able to gruesomely kill fairly innocent people, while laughing, and no one in the office space took notice? This element of the movie truly absurd and doesn't even fit into the plot. He really is a shoe-horned villain. Just about anyone else could've been the villain and it would've made more sense. Why not the ring-leader from the beginning? He said he wanted to shut- down all of the robots? Several other people were looking for a remote to shutdown all of the robots, so literally anyone could've been the villain and would've had better motives than Hugh Jackman.

Other than that, the ending is a bit random, but I was okay with it until the last minute or so. The very very end is kind of... okay? That doesn't make sense with the universe's set rules, but... okay... Fortunately, the other characters in this movie are pretty good. Some people may find them annoying, but I found it interesting because its not like Chappie fell into the hands of perfect people who knew how to use him, Chappie fell into the hands of people who have no idea how robots work or the science behind them. So certain people attach to him differently. Some people treat him like a human, while others do not.

All in all, a smarter than your average film, but full of plot-holes and issues. Kind of sad, really.

Flawed, but Entertaining

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 19 September 2015]

In Johannesburg, the police department reduced the high rating of criminality using robots from the Tetravaal Company, designed by the engineer Deon Wilson (Dev Patel). The former military Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) 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 (Sigourney Weaver) 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 (Ninja), Yo-Landi (¥o-Landi Vi$$er) and Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo) 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.

"Chappie" is a flawed but entertaining film with "robocops" fighting against crime. However, Tetravaal is totally unbelievable as a security company with the easy access of employees to the facility and software. Considering that all Johannesburg is dependable of the robots, it is ridiculous the lack of protection of the company and how easy Deon Wilson and Vincent Moore go there during the night and access the systems using only a key. The concern of Chappie with mortality and the discussion with his creator is taken from "Blade Runner". The corny decision of Deon, running after Chappie instead of activating the robots in the chaotic city is also silly. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Chappie"

Perhaps Underrated?

[Silver5963 · 7/10 · 13 February 2023]

Another user made a point that this movie is essentially a blend of "RoboCop" and "Short Circuit". Of course, that is a great combination of movies, but Chappie manages to add it's own charm to the mix. I think the South African characters that have divided many viewers' opinions actually adds to the uniqueness and charm of the movie. The movie raises questions about morality, and about the value of a life, even if that life isn't human. Perhaps the science behind this movie might be unrealistic, but if you suspend your disbelief and focus on the main themes of this movie, it's a really heart-warming movie.

While this movie isn't necessarily one for the history books of cinematography, it's certainly a good film and definitely worth a watch, in my opinion.

"You gave me a retarded robot."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 1 June 2015]

I really liked this one. There's some obvious '80s influences here, from the criminals looking like something out of a Mad Max movie to the Short Circuit and Robocop elements. There's even a bit of a He-Man cartoon shown at one point. It's an intriguing and certainly entertaining movie, if not an overly original one. I think some critics are unhappy with the lack of pretentiousness that was present in Neill Blomkamp's previous work. Here the "messages" are more universal and less political. Some people only like their sci-fi if it carries with it an obvious metaphor for a topical social injustice. You can even find such metaphors here if you try but subtlety is not a zealot's cup of tea. Overall, I thought the script was good and I really liked the upbeat ending. Another nitpick I have about the modern critic is that they think the only good sci-fi story is one with a downer ending. The special effects are pretty amazing. The acting is solid all around. Dev Patel, Yo-Landi Vissir, Ninja, Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Sharlto Copley (voice & motion capture for Chappie) are all great. Hugh Jackman has a rare turn as the villain here and does a terrific job, even if I do hate the obligatory clichés his character is saddled with. That haircut, though...

Maybe it's not for everybody. I have friends that haven't seen it yet that I'm fairly certain will bitch about it and pick it apart, like I see from many reviews on here. But that's their loss. I'm happy that Blomkamp tried to make a movie that's not dumb by any stretch but also isn't just aimed at the elitist film snob crowd or soapbox bloggers.

Way better than the critics want you to believe

[samwturner · 9/10 · 6 March 2015]

I thoroughly enjoyed Chappie. I usually don't write reviews, but after seeing the brutal rating this movie is getting I felt compelled to write this review.

Chappie is a funny, entertaining, and surprisingly sentimental movie about a sentient robot being raised by gangsters in Johannesburg. Most of the criticisms I've seen about one- dimensional characters and illogical character choices are valid, but Chappie's character, the CGI, the humor, and the overall aesthetic of the movie more than make up for these shortcomings.

Please go see this movie and make up your own mind. I almost didn't go last night because of the negative reviews, but I'm so happy I did. I'm very excited to see this movie again. You leave this movie feeling like you've become friends with Chappie, and I hope the bad reviews don't prevent the sequels from being made.

If you like Neill Blomkamp's directing and style you will love this movie.

Mixed

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 7/10 · 6 March 2015]

As may really happen soon(and this is set in the not too distant future, somewhere in time…), and yet goes completely unexamined(and it's not the only compelling concept it fails to do much with), humanoid robots, Scouts(or, y'know, Homeland), largely replace regular police. One falls into the hands of a rather unlikable and one-note trio of criminals whose protagonist status is trying our patience, because of the former, not the latter. Chappie(Copley, sweet and charming, doing both well-integrated motion-capture and voice-work) is granted consciousness, and this innocent, childlike(yet rather powerful, able to kick through brick walls like it's nothing) being deals with different influences and goes through the range of human emotions with us finding ourselves touched, cheering him on, or scared… for or of him.

Blomkamp delivers on both his good and bad tropes, and we end up with something in some ways better than Elysium, and it is thankfully less simplistic, mainstream and ridiculously one-sided, left-leaning(and I say that as a major Liberal). There are major problems with the characters. Moore(Jackman's mullet being as badass a presence as usual – yet here, we're afraid of who he'll hurt and how, instead of hoping he'll get there soon and get one of the really bad people that way), a former soldier who's… Christian? Or is that a joke…? Anyway, he's built a remote-controlled mech suit which is completely overkill for crime fighting(which may be satire of the recent militarization of such) which has been turned down. He has fun, and we vicariously enjoy the taste of the scenery. The other names are wasted, Weaver in particular. And that leaves us with earlier-mentioned obnoxious ones.

The action, whilst largely free of cool guns(don't get me wrong, the various bullet delivery systems on display, especially with how tricked out they are, are badass) is great. The ending and the opening are from different movies – to each other and to this one. Unpredictable and fast-paced to the point where it forgets its own plot threads… the entire climax feels tailored and sacrifices scope in the name of focus, when a few rewrites could have addressed that much better. I do get a bad feeling that Neill is running out of ideas. With all the similarities between his three films, he almost should have pulled a Sin City and placed them all within the same universe.

There is a lot of brutal, violent and disturbing content, as well as a little sexuality and full frontal female nudity(because it can) in this. I recommend this to fans of the subgenre. 7/10

We need a sequel.

[rdoubleoc · 10/10 · 10 April 2019]

If there was ever a movie that needed a sequel more than another, it's Chappie.

It's literally probably the best movie I've ever seen, still (and it's 2021 as of this update/writing).

Blockbuster Demands

[billygoat1071 · 6/10 · 5 March 2015]

Neill Blomkamp might be one of the most fascinating storytellers in blockbuster filmmaking today. His Sci-Fi stories are basically an allegory of the third world culture. Chappie now tackles the subject of being raised in a troubling environment. The movie becomes real engaging when it sticks to that mode, but the same problem of the director stays, as his enthusiasm of blockbuster filmmaking makes its important theme seem lost. It's not bad adding some explosions, except the major conflict of the plot bogs down its potential, turning it into a generic action film and also has a dumb climax with an ending that hardly makes sense. It should have been straightforward with its social analogy, because there the movie becomes really gripping.

There's actually two stories involved in Chappie: one is how humans fear the artificial intelligence and how it would affect to the future of their society; the other is a robot who has to choose whether he is going to choose two paths: the wish of his maker or the life of an urban thug. The second story is much fascinating, Chappie is often described as a child who is still learning how the world works. The film makes some compelling points on how the robot influences from the reality; the good and the bad. But the film keeps getting hindered by blockbuster elements with a generic arrogant corporal villains, and of course, giant robots and bigger guns. The explosions are fine, but the ideas towards that side hardly felt like it belongs there, or at least helped improving the storyline. It might have first thought that it would make it more thrilling or entertaining, but the gangster side felt more natural at this concept, probably leading to a much powerful experience in the end.

But when the third act comes, it keeps sprinkling more ideas that makes its core even more complicated. The movie is more intriguing when it keeps things smaller and slow, putting aside those bombastic battles and political conflict. The acting is alright. Sharlto Copley is in motion capture as Chappie and he brings a palpable full of energy, he decently captures the robot's growth in his environment, he may not be given a full character, but the performance keeps the character shine anyway. Dev Patel obviously does well as the film's serious heart of this weird world. Ninja and Yolandi plays the fictional version of themselves, which feels pretty self-indulgent, but does fine to the picture anyway, in spite of still wearing the merch of their Die Antwoord and the movie they are in. The best talents ended up playing the most unnecessary villains; with Hugh Jackman goes over-the-top as the villain who you'd love to hate (a lot like Stephen Lang in Avatar) while Sigourney Weaver is underused in a role that actually doesn't do much to the story.

It seems like Chappie fears that it won't fit in today's realm of loud blockbusters, it's definitely not bold enough to be honest with itself, which is a shame. Blomkamp comes up with these interesting stories, but unable to fully comprehend with its actual message or something else. There is still a talk about the consequence of having artificial intelligence walking among us, but the movie is more powerful when it stays at its allegorical roots, getting to know the dark side of the streets and growing up in a violent world of crime, while struggle with fragile moral dilemmas, but as a blockbuster, it demands more explosions and clashing CGI effects. It's less interesting at that point. Chappie deserves more tweaks, I want Chappie to be better than that.

Die Die Antwoord, please

[blott2319-1 · 4/10 · 11 March 2020]

I've seen Short Circuit many times before, and it's hard to deny that Chappie is extremely reminiscent of that film. The biggest difference between the two is that the people who end up in possession of Chappie are the most annoying human beings in South Africa. I know that Die Antwoord is a thing down there, but I swear their faux "gangsta" personalities are even more offensive than Fisher Stevens playing an Indian man. Every moment they were on screen, I was annoyed and wishing they would shut up. Then at the end, for some reason, they expect us to fear for their lives. I was anxious for them to die and stop ruining the movie. The funny thing is Hugh Jackman is also delivering a ridiculously over-the-top performance, but I didn't mind at all. It works coming from him, and he's supposed to be the villain anyways.

The sad truth is, there's a decent film at the heart of Chappie. The visual effects of the robot are amazing, and Sharlto Copley's motion capture and voice work are brilliant. He embodies the innocence of a robot with an infantile mind to perfection. I also thought Dev Patel worked well as the brains behind the robots, and his conflict with Chappie made sense and created the one effective emotional arc in the film. It's just too bad that Neill Blomkamp decided to build the story around his friends Yo-Landi and Ninja instead of simply concentrating on what would make for the best film. I want to like this movie more, and it has a number of elements that I did enjoy. But I will probably just go back to watch Short Circuit or Robocop to get all the same story beats in a better film, despite the fact that Chappie had potential to be on par with one of those movies.

Why the hate?

[calipanhead · 9/10 · 6 March 2015]

Why all the hate for this movie? I understand not liking something, but everyone seems to just TRASH it. Did I see the same movie? I saw an emotional film about innocence and loss. I REALLY don't understand. Sure, maybe the film didn't have the best dialogue or the best acting in the world, but it hit home for me. The VFX were phenomenal, Chappie is the best CGI motion capture I have seen in a long time, the 100% electronic musical score by Hans Zimmer was really unique and fresh, and it has a really great ending. I DON'T UNDERSTAND. If you like Blomkamp's previous films or are remotely interested, please watch it yourself. I think the critics are wrong on this one. I have been thinking for a while about why the reviews are so out there. First off, the trailers are AWFUL. The first to come out was this philosophical "What does it mean to be human?" kinda movie. The TV trailers were "GUNS, EXPLOSIONS, ROBOTS!!!" and it is neither. Think "Little Miss Sunshine" with a robot, that is a more accurate representation. Blomkamp's most underrated film.

On a Whole... A Fun Movie That Brings the LOL's

[landingwiz · 7/10 · 5 March 2015]

Just watched Chappie today, and before that I was reading a lot of negative reviews online.

Well, I'm happy to say it's better than I expected and some of them 'critics' didn't seem to get it. One critic even said the movie was full of unlikable characters.

He must be kidding, or unlikable himself. I found so many of the characters lovely each in their own way, from Chappie to "the gang" that raised him, and even his maker Deon.

The acting was good all around, and even though there were parts that were awkwardly laughable (bedroom scene etc), I believe the director meant for them to be this way. Those who didn't get those parts would've probably found them cringe-worthy. Too bad for them though, because for those of us in the cinema who got it, these scenes brought the LOLs.

The music was top-notch and what I felt carried the show. Not surprising since it was done by Hans Zimmer.

If there are any cons, I would say that the movie did not reach its fullest potential when it could have - it was well headed in that direction. We're talking about Inception, Interstellar, Nolan'ish mind-blowing. However, it stopped short of reaching that level of awesomeness. I honestly think Nolan could have one-up and pulled it off in spectacular fashion.

Still, Chappie is highly enjoyable and definitely worth catching in the cinema. Don't expect a serious dead-on-point movie like District 9, but a fun loving one that might warm your heart and put a smile on your face.

Good production value and talented actors wasted on B-category screenplay

[tipoole · 4/10 · 25 April 2020]

Having just seen it for the first time, i wonder why did i bother.

The only explanation that comes to mind for the existence of this movie is that at the moment it was made, Neill owed a considerable amount of money to either Tudor, Anri (ninja/yo-landi) or someone from their entourage and decided to take a plunge in his career to pay off his debt by making a Die Antwoord movie (cause thats what this actually is). if that would be the case, i find it mind-boggling that he got such a reasonable cast to get on board with this. Actually i wonder how they got on board anyway. theres not much to say about the movie itself, the first 15-20 minutes seemed to promise another Neill Blomkamp blockbuster with ninja/yo-landi playing off their stage personas as best as they can (not much to expect there either), after-which it turns pretty fast into a cringe-fest by means of high-jacking what at first seemed to be an action packed Elysium sister/cousin and turning it into a childrens coming of age story/a promotional film for Die Antwoord. the good - Sharlto Copleys performance the bad - Die Antwoord/script

BTW how is it that this gets 6.8 with some 10/10 reviews and Elysium gets 6.6?

Dark look at how much humanity sucks, Blomkamp returns

[rgkarim · 7/10 · 6 March 2015]

Fans of Neil Blomkamp rejoice, another tale has arisen to slap us in the face about the pessimistic place the world is. This time his vision is in the form of a robot, who obtains artificial intelligence that will, as always, revolutionize the world. While we all know the usual consequences of this motion, you never know what twists Blomkamp's movies will have. Thus for this movie called Chappie, the trailers may have you…

Expect: A dark, cynical tale about how humans suck, action, and something weird will happen.

What you get:

Blomkamp has an obsession with darker films, as seen in District 9 and Elysium. Chappie from the start brings out that darkness, plopping us in the middle of civil unrest and death as war breaks out between thugs and the robotic police force. For nearly two hours, this darkness continues to grow as we are subjugated to heavy dialog that begins to question the roles and responsibilities of humans. Why is this dark you ask? Because Blomkamp chooses to address the negative side of things, often emphasizing the less attractive qualities of greed, anger, jealousy, and arrogance to a fault. We get it humans suck, how many times do you have to deliver the same message? His efforts to further analyze the flaws of humanity are further exaggerated by panoramic shots of shacks and grime filled buildings, as well as curse laden dialog. I indeed did feel some of the message, but the movie went too far on some of the characters that I grew annoyed or laughed at the ridiculous direction the film took. Some of the scenes were a bit too much for me at times, especially the bouts of torture or slander that Chappie, the one ray of hope in this movie, had to endure. His innocence was supposed to offset the darkness, but Blomkamp and crew quickly washed that away and left me more depressed than anything.

I think the darkness was further enhanced by the impressive editing the team did on the movie. In particular Chappie was animated beautifully, his detail and movements flowing without flaw. The robot is human all on his own, and shows the gullible side of our selves, in particular when we are children aiming to please. Throw in the gut wrenching orchestra work and the sadness and dismay of the plot continues to unfold and leave you a little morbid at being humans. His message is clear we need to take action, but come on a little more happiness could have gone a long way.

Action wise the movie follows the same formula his previous installments have. The movie starts out with pedal to the medal shootout excitement to help establish how Chappie comes to be. However the adrenaline quickly ebbs as the ethical discussions begin and we are left to sit through about an hour and half of dialogue before the next bout of fighting begins. The end game is not quite as exhilarating though, the epic shoot out turning more bloodbath and bang as our cast of characters are tortured. Again darkness seems to be the calling of this tale, and the action is not spared of the honed, ruthless edge of blood and death. The scenes are also melodramatic as well, the actors falling in cascades of slow motion screaming and running. I wasn't impressed with the promise the trailers held, but again you never know with Blomkamp.

As for the weird factor… well the entire movie is pretty much weird. The artificial intelligence angle has been played a bunch of times, but this one is a bit weird in terms of Chappie thinking the humans are its parents. Another twist was discussing the nature of consciousness and its involvement in making us human. You'll find this is centered once again around death, and is relayed to what a soul is. Such concepts may be a little too much for some audience members, and I admit leads to some very "interesting" albeit philosophical paths. You will find that the ending is very similar to some other big blockbuster plots. I can say that the ending provides some light at the end of the dark tunnel, but it also leaves it on an ambiguous note as well, most likely to open for another potential sequel.

I can say Chappie is a very well produced movie, with fantastic special effects, animation, and a reassessment of humanity. Yet the cynical approach to this movie left me depressed, which when combined with the morbid dialog bored me at times. This film is definitely an artistic, with much symbology and passion captured on screen, but I still look for more entertainment in my movies. So who can I recommend this movie to? I will definitely recommend this film to fans of District 9 and Elysium, as well as those who like a dark approach to their science fiction movies. In addition if you like having a philosophical blow out during a movie, again I recommend this. Otherwise, skip this film and wait for next weekend's releases as they hold more promise.

My scores for this movie are:

Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller: 7.0 Overall: 6.5

Weak Writing; Chappie is the Only Real Fun in CHAPPIE

[brando647 · 6/10 · 16 February 2016]

I've been following the career of director Neill Blomkamp since he blew me away in 2009 with his debut DISTRICT 9 and, I've got to say, there's been a slow decline. I absolutely loved DISTRICT 9 and, while it was nowhere near the same level, I even enjoyed ELYSIUM. But, man, I don't know what to think of CHAPPIE. I do find that I sort of like it, in spite of some pretty annoying flaws. Those flaws would be sloppier writing and the idiot characters. Everything else lives up to what I expect from a Blomkamp movie, and this movie isn't enough for me to write the man off. I'm just a little disappointed. I guess I was hoping the dip into mediocrity that was ELYSIUM was a fluke and CHAPPIE would be a return to form. Once again set in Blomkamp's usual stomping ground of South Africa, CHAPPIE is set in the brutal world of gangsters in Johannesburg. In an effort to combat crime, the government has utilized a robotic police force and it seems to be working out. As good as this might be for Johannesburg, it's bad news for a trio of small-time criminals who need to pull off a pretty decent heist if they want to pay off their debts to a murderous local kingpin. By a stroke of luck, the three cross paths with Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), creator of the police robots, and he just so happens to have a busted robot in the trunk of his van that he'd planned on using to test his new artificial intelligence program. Instead, the gangsters see their chance to put the newly sentient 'bot to good use in solving their own problems.

My problems with CHAPPIE really go hand-in-hand. The overall story is pretty cool: the naïve "newborn" robot essentially being raised by these criminals and the conflict between his gangster upbringing and the more positive messages bestowed on him by his maker, Deon. The problems in the writing that bother me endlessly are with the characters, their actions, and the seemingly lack of consequences to all of the ignorant decisions being made. This isn't limited to the street thugs. I expect them to make stupid decisions (and they do); this goes for everyone. Deon, for example, steals a broken police robot from work that was scheduled for recycling because it was beyond repair. Sure, this sets the whole plot in motion but why is someone so intelligent acting so stupid? We see Deon's home. He's got loads of machines and he's even got a tiny butler robot that cleans up his messes. Why not implant the program in one of them and test it out? Was it really the best decision to steal what is most assuredly a multi-million dollar product from your company and, remember, the local government (it was a police 'bot, after all)? Then he gets hijacked by our trio of main criminals…Ninja, Yo- Landi, and Amerika…and they demand to keep the newly sentient robot for themselves. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up in a high crime area…maybe Deon's just desensitized to threats of violence…but when an obviously unstable street thug starts waving a gun around and demands I get lost and leave the robot, I get lost. Cut your losses, man. Call the cops and let them deal with it. Seeing as how he's such an asset to his company, he might not even lose his job for "borrowing" the busted robot. Instead, Deon insists on returning to the criminal's hideout again and again and again so he can continue teaching Chappie, risking a bullet to the brain every time and rarely acknowledging the constant threats of death.

So, Deon's an idiot. How do Chappie's other parents fare? Yo-Landi is Chappie's surrogate mother and the most sympathetic of the cast. From the moment Chappie goes online, Yo-Landi's maternal instincts kick in and she adopts him as her own child; she's even the one to name him. Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo) is sort of the cool uncle. He helps teach Chappie swagger and how to carry himself like a gangster. He actually seems to care about Chappie but he never oversteps his bounds, knowing this is Ninja's operation and therefore Ninja's robot. And Ninja…well, Ninja's made almost impossible to like (despite being a main character in the film) because of how much we sympathize with Chappie. A quick bit about Chappie: I love the character. Sharlto Copley does a phenomenal job bringing the robot to life and making the audience love him. For the majority of the film, Chappie is mentally a "child". His behavior, his speech, his naivety…Chappie is a child and it's near impossible not to care about him. This is why it's so easy for me to hate the character of Ninja. I suppose Ninja would be comparable to Chappie's stepfather (I see Deon as more the father role though Chappie does refer to Ninja as his father) and he's an abusive S.O.B. Yes, Chappie is a robot but it's enough that I can't stand Ninja, despite his attempted redemption at the end.

I don't hate CHAPPIE. I'm not mad. I'm just…disappointed. I expected better. Still, Chappie himself was done incredibly well (both VFX and performance) and Yo-Landi was surprisingly decent. It's Blomkamp's biggest misstep so far but it's entertaining enough. Wait for it to drop on cable for this one; no rush.

Don't let critics reviews put you off.

[m_westgarth · 10/10 · 7 March 2015]

Don't let the critics who can't seem to get past comparing Chappie with other sci-fi titles put you off of going to see this film.

This story is about a lot more than just robot police officers it is a thought provoking social commentary on many modern day issues and what it is like to bring life into the modern world.

I very much enjoyed District 9 but I would even go as far to say I enjoyed Chappie much, much more.

There were so many aspects to this film that could have went wrong but have been nailed on the head by the director. The effect once again visually striking and a very well paced and intricate development of characters as well as interesting set design helps keep chappie fresh and not just another reboot of any other sci fi film as critics will have you believe.

I would also say I enjoyed this film much, much more than the likes of robo-cop.

Robotic Miseducation

[3xHCCH · 6/10 · 5 March 2015]

In Johannesburg in a future time, robots called Scouts have replaced the human police force. These efficient Scouts were developed by the young genius Deon Wilson. His rival in the company is war-freak ex-soldier Vincent Moore who is trying to push his own creation, the big, mean fighting machine he calls Moose. Moore wanted nothing more than to discredit Wilson by fair means or by foul.

One day, Wilson and a damaged Scout #22 (which Deon had enhanced with his experimental human-like artificial intelligence) were abducted by drug-dealers who desperately needed to pay off a $20M debt. Much to Wilson's annoyance, the low-lifes call #22 the undistinguished name Chappie. Worse, they train him in the violent ways of the 'hood in order to help them pull off a major heist.

Like director Neill Blomkamp's previous film "District 9", his latest film once again highlights his home country of South Africa. Aside from the Johannesburg setting, his favorite actor Sharlto Copley is again in the cast. This time Copley is playing the titular Scout Chappie via motion capture. Copley tended to exaggerate the child-like demeanor and the innocent voice by which he communicates his thoughts. Some of his lines were cringe-worthy in their over-sentimentality.

Moreover, for the key roles of the husband-and-wife gangsters whom Chappie learned to call his Daddy and Mommy, Blomkamp casts members of the local hip hop group Die Antwoord, even using their real names Ninja and Yolandi. I felt this was a major misstep as these two neophyte actors obviously were not up to the challenge their roles demanded. The way these two were delivering their dialogues were clearly and distractingly amateurish.

The characters of Dev Patel (as Wilson) and Hugh Jackman (as Moore) were pretty one-dimensional. Patel plays a character we have seen him play before, an idealistic good guy. The way his character was written was nonsensical in many of his decisions and actions. Jackman on the other hand, was clearly enjoying his rare chance to play bad guy, and was overacting to the hilt with evil relish. Sigourney Weaver was hardly even seen as the CEO of the weapons company these two guys worked for, so casting her was inconsequential.

The story draws from several other Artificial Intelligence films we have seen before, especially those where the robot actually becomes human- like. There was a bit too much going on, and furthermore it was weighed down by its own excessive melodrama, which may become mawkish. I liked what happened at the end, despite that it seemed to be impossible to pull off in the long term. The importance of proper influence and education of minors is also emphasized and I liked that as well.

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

[ianferrell08 · 9/10 · 6 March 2015]

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.

A hate-less review

[marjancek · 7/10 · 16 May 2015]

I saw the movie prior to finding so much hate within the reviews. It is true that the film has 2 or 3 questionable plot-holes, but giving it anything less that 5 is clearly hate rating. The film also is not up for more than 8, since there are some very questionable issues with the development of the plot at certain points, and its message is strong, but rather simple.

"Shot-Circuit (1986) meets the gansta" is entertaining, and leaves a couple of things to think about by the end of it, so I think it does deserve its current average of 7.2.

I liked it more than Elyseum, but a bit less that District 9. I clearly recommend it, but keep your expectations in check just in case.

Great visuals, completely ludicrous plot

[joazito · 2/10 · 12 March 2015]

Felt like leaving the theater for this one. It started off nicely, with a hugely successful robot task force with moderate A.I. Then for some reason funding gets cut and the head developer decides to go rogue and install his untested super A.I. on a stolen robot.

Hard to swallow plot #1: The robots can only be reprogrammed in the presence of a unique key USB disk. The developer just picks it up and takes it home, spends several days with it, and no one bats an eye.

#2: Chappie is born with the knowledge of a baby. But miraculously he learns the English language in a couple of days of exchanging a few sentences with his "parents".

#3: The bad guys let the developer, which they just stole and beat the crap of, come and go as he pleases. No worries of him alerting the authorities or his companies' own robot army. Which he doesn't, inexplicably.

#4: For someone so intelligent, Chappie is pretty dumb. He knows shooting someone kills them but is convinced that knifing "just makes them sleep".

#5: After lying to manipulate the robot every step of the way, the "bad daddy" decides to come clean and admit that in fact he can't prevent Chappie's demise. Which obviously results in almost getting killed.

#6: The same "bad daddy" then does a complete flip flop and puts his life on the line to save Chappie. Which is going to die in a few hours anyway. And not in any effective way I might add, he just decides to become a sitting duck for some reason.

#7: The factory where all the mayhem originated from is the least secure place in the city. And absolutely no one, except for the protagonist and the antagonist, are able to go to the command console and sort things out. In fact it just remains abandoned in all other times.

#8: The childlike robot prodigy miraculously (again) is able to do a feat no else had: transfer consciousness. With some banged up laptop too.

#9: Police is nowhere to be seen, and despite being perfectly possible to restore the malfunctioning robots from the control central no one decides to even try it. There's just frantic panic and cowboy stunts.

There's more but you get the picture. To me the movie was painful to watch. Every character seemed to be shouting all the time and have complete disregard for logic. It was a dumb movie. The one nice thing that temporarily took the pain away was the warm feeling you get when you realize the robot is able to sacrifice his own life for the survival of a human. So, 2 minutes out of 120. Maybe I should have rated this even lower - but the 3/10 stands, because of visuals.

Great movie. Reviewers are way off with this.

[bugeboy · 9/10 · 5 March 2015]

This is a great movie definitely in the style of Niell Blomkamp. However, some people might consider this a fault, as Elysium was a little off the mark. What is great about the movie is its style. They really went all out with Yolandi and Ninja (the main characters part of the musical group Die Antwoord). Hugh Jackman is pretty hilarious as a bloodthirsty war vet, selling his role pretty well. The technology in this movie is fantastic, as usual coming from Blomkamp, leaving plenty of ideas for the imagination to wonder about for the future. Of course, Chappie really makes this movie; taking something so technical and robotic, making it human in action. He really gets the feels going. I haven't laughed like that in a movie theater in a long time. Add to that the oddness of the characters influencing the development of Chappie, this movie is gangster.

Still, 9/10, super great movie.

When Wolverine decides to build a robot.

[Mysterygeneration · 6/10 · 8 June 2022]

The decision by the director to cast Die Antwoord as performers did not appear to be paying off. The rappers' frontman was written out of a scene due to a feud between them with the cast and crew.

It should be emphasized that now that Chappie has been released, all of these early fears have been realized. Hugh Jackman performs a fantastic job as a cardboard monster. Dev Patel acts and speaks as if Die Antwoord's Ninja has been feeding him drugged sweets throughout the entire filming. Ninja is so unlikable that his appearance in practically every scene is preceded by a character acknowledging his overall unlikability and a visible grimace from every sentient being in the frame. Jackman's mullet, which is tinged with a mustard-gold color on top that isn't found in nature, is quite terrifying.

The human performances in Chappie are purposefully inept. Even if the plot replaces flesh and bone with titanium and a brain with a computer chip, it's only natural for a story about the universal experience of growing up. The film's artistic decision to make its characters caricatures only adds to its argument for humanity's transcendence. Neill Blomkamp's first feature-length film is Chappie. Die Antwoord's music videos and rap videos influenced Hans Zimmer's synth-pop composition.

Chappie establishes a distinction between what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate usage of technology. The film's forward-thinking argument is that duplicating consciousness has more humanity than manipulating robots.

Simply put - it is beautifully stupid

[silentbogo-1337 · 3/10 · 20 May 2015]

I believe this movie only solidifies my concrete statement that 21st century is an age of pointless cinema.

Most of the plot in Chappie either fails to follow common human logic, or completely breaks it. This is a modern trend of over- dramatizing the events by making "shit happen" in the literal meaning of this phrase.

It all starts in a not-too distant future with an international corporation, based in SAR, which solved the problem of rising crime wave by introducing almost all-robotic police force.

Then few things just happen:

• The lead researcher makes a breakthrough in AI development and asks company CEO to give him a broken robot for experiments. She "politely" refuses and desperate doc risks his impressive paycheck and reputation by stealing this piece of junk off the scrapyard.

• The rival former-military engineer fails to sell his combat machine (which for some reason looks like robot-chicken from robocop) and after another budget cut risks his not-so-impressive paycheck, but more solid reputation as pioneer in neural interfaces, to sabotage the whole "scout" operation and start a nationwide crime spree

• A local gang with looks of early 90s inspired cyberpunk movies get into conflict situation with another dude. In order to solve this problem they need to find 20.000.000 moneys, so the only logical solution is to find a robot-maker and get a hypothetical OFF-switch, so it will be easier to do whatever crimes they've planned with their pumpkin heads.

They bust the doctor, while he was driving a van with a stolen robot. After successful installation of new software they get a semi-intelligent gansta-ninja robot filled with curiosity, deep understanding of neural interfaces and human consciousness, but lacking the basic knowledge of trauma, pain and death (even with internet connection).

The end result: all robots are broken, everyone is dead. After lots of shooting and the final boss battle Chappie revives the doctor and his mama as robots. Credits start rolling, so are my strained eyes...

Gave it 3/10 for visuals. Everything else sucks. All the aspects of the movie that fans claim to be unique and innovative have been meticulously copied from many other(even recent) sci-fi titles with no sign of shame or remorse.

Not the most original thing you'll ever see, but done with enough care and depth to wash over this

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 7/10 · 4 April 2015]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

In a futuristic South Africa, crime has spiralled out of control, and robotic police-droids have been dispatched to the streets to keep things under control. But a scientist named Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) has developed a droid seemingly capable of human emotion and feeling, who comes to be called Chappie. When Wilson finds himself and his project kidnapped by a gang of renegades with their own agenda, they come to see Chappie as a means to their own ends, while he further develops his own thoughts and feelings. But things all come to a head when embittered soldier Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) tries to use his own monstrous super-droid to eliminate Chappie when he's set up for crimes he did not do.

The concept of a machine developing feelings has been a theme explored many times before, but one which never loses it's ability to have an impact on the audience, and to make them care about the story and the characters more than they might have. With this, his latest project, South African director Neill Blomkamp re-ignites the formula again, giving it a more modern edge in more unstable times. In an unseen role, Sharlito Copley manages to elicit this effect from the android in this film, stirring the emotions and giving the film it's more dynamic, driving edge, despite being pretty average in most other ways.

As adequate as the film was, I still felt a little short changed by judging a book by it's cover, as the poster to this seemed to promise something absolutely breath-taking, a throw-back to some of the great monster mash up robot films from years ago, and while it's not without it's fair share of exciting action scenes, it still came off as a little under-whelming compared to what could have been. Some other flaws include lead star Patel, who looks a little too young for the role, not to mention some logic/implausibility flaws present.

Yes, it's a mish mash of other films that have gone before it, Short Circuit and Robocop springing to mind, but it's all done with just enough flair and heart, despite the flaws, to pass muster. ***

Is Blomkamp A One Hit Wonder

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 29 March 2015]

Like so many people I really enjoyed Neill Blomkamp's DISTRICT 9 one of the very best science-fiction films in recent years that fused cerebral social comment with exciting fast paced action sequences . I missed his follow up ELYSIUM but couldn't help noticing from the trailers that it had the same visual look as the director's prior film , an opinion that seemed reinforced by the rather lukewarm reviews ELYSIUM received . With CHAPPIE my spidey senses were tingling that we'd be getting more of the same along with a pastiche of similar films such as ROBOCOP and SHORT CIRCUIT . Add to this a rather poor marketing campaign that saw parents taking their children to the film only to lead them out again when they realised there was violence and very bad language . Even the title CHAPPIE gives the impression the audience are going to be watching a twee Disney type film and you might just be expecting a massive own goal where marketing is concerned

To be fair CHAPPIE isn't a massive disaster but is ill thought out on so many levels . First of all Blomkamp seems unable to leave whatever comfort zone he had in DISTRICT 9 . The film starts with talking head interviews and news reports that we had in D9 and it's only when the characters mention droid cops that I was reminded I wasn't watching D9 . We then get a high octane shoot out in a Jo-Burg slum and again I was left with the impression I could have been watching out-takes from the action scenes from D9 with the droid cops superimposed over the action . To its mild credit the film then does start taking on an identity of its own but here it starts to hit serious problems that have been mentioned - the tone . I can't emphasise how schizophrenic the film starts becoming . The titular droid and its developer Deon get kidnapped by some nasty foul mouthed criminals from the slums and these criminals are often incapable of opening their mouths without a string of expletives coming out . Later on we get a female crim reading Chappie a story like she would a child and it's like watching a mawkish family film complete with incidental music to go with it . I'm unable to emphasise how often this jarring shifts in tone happen or indeed why they happen . I think the angry parents who dragged their little ones out the cinema have only themselves to blame for not researching a film beforehand - this is an era where something can easily be researched via the internet - but by the same token this is by no means a family film yet someone bizarre segments suggest it might be

CHAPPIE isn't a complete dead loss and I did like it in parts . Much of the film is helped by the casting of Dev Patel as Deon and he's always been good at playing sympathetic characters who have no problem getting the audience on their side and he continues in this type of role . Also as in the past director Blomkamp knows how to make great action scenes but at the end of the day CHAPPIE isn't a rip roaring action thriller anymore than it is a family film and one wonders what sort of film the production team were trying to market ?