Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Chappie: 13 Nerdy Nights of Horror Year 2 - Day 2



            Neil Blomkamp is one of those directors that...I don't really have any feelings toward. When his blockbuster hit, “District 9,” came out, everyone was saying how phenomenal and fresh it was. It even garnered Oscar acclaim, being nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Picture. Looking back to when I first saw it, I didn't really care that much about it, and even after watching it a second time...I still don't care about it. The film was okay, but much like James Cameron's “Avatar,” I just don't see the appeal they had. When “Elysium” came out a few years later, I again had the same feeling toward it, like I did with “District 9.” It was okay, but nothing really special. I thought the acting was good, the production value was decent, but it didn't really have that much wow to it.

            So yeah, I don't really have that much love or hate for Neil Blomkamp's work...until earlier this year, when I saw his newest film, “Chappie.” And the best way I can describe it is, it's one of those films that gets worse the more you think about it.

            In the future not that far from our own, robots have taken on the task of police force in the city of Detroit. One scientist, Deon Wilson, implants an A.I. he’s worked on for years into one of those robots, which is then put under the care of a group of criminals. The robot, named Chappie, starts to learn under these criminals, but is then targeted by Deon’s rival, Vincent, and their boss, Michelle Bradley. Will things turn out well for Chappie, or will everything turn out for the worse?

            Now the major thing people noticed from the trailers is that the film feels like a rip-off “Short Circuit,” right down to the Indian scientist and his friendly robot that’s alive. And whenever it’s not ripping off “Short Circuit,” it’s ripping off “Robocop” with the ED-209 being in the movie, just with a different paint job.

Now I’ve said in the past that rip-offs aren’t as bad, if the rest of the film was good, but the film doesn’t provide that much likability to it. The worst part about it are the characters, especially the criminal family played by the band, Die Antwoord. Disregarding the terrible performances they give, I couldn’t give a shit about any of the characters they play, if you can even call them that. What’s Ninja? The asshole. What’s Yolandi? The aggressive bitch. What’s Amerika (yes, he’s called that)? The third wheel. I know, they’re supposed to be the bad guys you grow to like, but with how their dialogue and actions are performed, the only sympathy we can get is from their relationship with Chappie and Deon.

However, Chappie himself isn’t that interesting, and we barely get enough time to get familiar with his character, before suddenly bad things happen. Same with Deon: while we get to know him more than Chappie, we still don’t have as much of a connection to him as we should. Compared to Johnny 5 and Ben from “Short Circuit,” we had plenty of time to get used to their characters and relationships with other characters, that whenever bad things DID happen, it worked. They were likable, you bought their characters, and you wanted to see them come out well in the end. Though, I will give credit to Shartlo Copley and Dev Patel for their performance. Even if I didn’t like their characters, I did buy their relationship together and felt invested in what there was.

As for Vincent and Michelle, played by Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver, they were a bore to sit through, and that really bugs me. These are two talented actors, Oscar nominees at that, and you couldn’t make their characters interesting? That’s just pathetic!

The action scenes, while not bad, aren’t very memorable. While Neil Blomkamp has done plenty of action scenes in both “District 9” and “Elysium,” there wasn’t anything that stood out in any of those films, and this is no exception.

Personally, I thought the remake of “Robocop” was a superior film. Yeah, it was tamed down from the original, both in tone and violence, but compared to the other remakes of 80’s action films, at least it put more effort into it as a film in general. With “Chappie,” it gave me the feelings I thought I was going to have with the remake of “Robocop,” only worse.

Overall, “Chappie” is not worth your time. The characters are unlikable, most of the acting is piss poor, the direction is lackluster, and the writing is weak. Just go watch “Short Circuit 1&2” and either the original or remake of “Robocop.” Either way, it’s better than sitting through “Chappie.”


Rating: 2/10

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