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:

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

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Taglines:

I am discovery. I am wonder. I am Chappie.

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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:

South Africa USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 March 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Capis

Filming Locations:

Johannesburg, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$49,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,346,782, 8 March 2015, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$31,569,268

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$104,399,548, 25 May 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,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

Michelle (Sigourney Weaver) delivers the lines, "Destroy that robot! Burn it to ash!" This is possibly a reference to her role in Alien (1979) where a thinking robot (named Ash) protected the alien at the expense of the "expendable" crew.

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Goofs

Around the 3 minute mark in the movie, there is a white Mercedes van that travels from right to left on the screen. The van has the word "Tetravaal" (and it's logo) and the words "Robotics Service and Maintenance" on the side of the van. (It's the van with Chappie inside after he gets damaged. When the van stops, they take Chappie out of the back.)

As the van is traveling from right to left across the screen, you see the driver's left hand in an awkward position. The driver's window is down and the driver's left hand is holding the frame in the middle of the door (the part of the frame where the window slides down into the frame of the door).

As the van moves more to the left and as the driver applies the breaks to stop the van, the door opens (Maybe 4 to 6 inches? Or 10 to 15 cm?) and the driver realizes the door is open and quickly pulls the door shut with his hand as he comes to a stop.

After watching it again, you realize that the driver has his hand on the door during the entire video of the van moving because he's trying keep the door shut with his hand.

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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 Appleseed (1988)

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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

Way better than the critics want you to believe

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.