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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