MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Sci-Fi Action/ Stars: Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Ninja, Yolandi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Sigourney Weaver, Brandon Auret, Anderson Cooper, Eugene Wanangwa Khumbanyiwa; Voice of: Sharlto Copley/ Runtime: 120 minutes
I think it is safe to start this review off by just letting you know up front that the slice of cinematic pie I am reviewing today, 2015’s Chappie is most assuredly not the first movie to try and explore the idea of artificial intelligence or rather the blurring of the line between what humanity is able to conjure up with what truly is the ingredients that make people….well people I guess, and it most assuredly won’t be the proverbial last word on the matter either. Indeed this is a slice of cinematic pie from film helmer Neill Blomkamp which manages to weave its path through quite familiar terrain yet still attempts to add a bit of novelty to the mix courtesy of the narrative involving the conjuring up of a robot who goes from a juvenile state of intrigue, terror, and uncertain and become not a slaughter bot (this isn’t Chopping Mall or 1990’s Hardware after all), but instead a machine that is able to comprehend how precious life is and the importance of being human. Indeed here is a slice of cinematic pie that courageously strives to try and deal with quite immersive concepts of a philosophical nature courtesy of the utilization of both broad overtones and subtlety in equal nature and by and large it is successful in doing so. Indeed even the quite unusual main character and the world in which he (?) becomes a part of aids the film due to the compare/contrast it is able to bring up in the form of introducing to our hero both mankind at its best and mankind at its worst as well. Yes this slice of cinematic pie really doesn’t do much if at all to try and make any waves of a novel nature, but it at the very least does try to immerse itself in some ideas that are more relevant than ever and does this in that typical style for which its helmer is known in that it manages to merge together creativity on a technical level with riveting action, intriguing characters, and passion that is truly undeniable.
The plot is as follows: Chappie takes us into a possible future where the city of Johannesburg has become quite perilous due to acts of criminality going up and the number of law enforcement officers to combat it going down. To that end, we see that the city has made the choice to start taking the fight to the next level courtesy of a group of robot cops that have been bought from a company by the name of Tetravaal. We also learn a few other things that I think might be of note. First is the fact that not only are these robots humanoid in nature, but their purpose is to strike as hard as possible whilst protecting their human counterparts no matter what. Next is the fact that these robots are the intellectual offspring of a genuinely good hearted man by the name of Deon Wilson and also that, despite the potential for these robot cops to do some good, Tetravaal is also looking into also maybe developing a bigger, much more brutal, and operated more like a drone fighting robot known simply as “Moose” which is the brain child of a bullying and merciless ex-soldier by the name of Vincent Moore. Things soon take a turn however when a trinity of criminals by the names of Ninja, Yolandi, and Amerika fall victim to an even more ruthless member of the underworld who politely requests they give him no more and no less than 20 million dollars. As a result, we see this desperate trio concoct a risky scheme to nab Wilson and take over his robots to aid them in this endeavor. A scheme that actually works better than they could have hoped since Wilson actually has one of the robots on him when they kidnap him. Nevertheless Wilson is able to get the robot fixed up and then inserts into it a program that gifts him with self-awareness with the only caveat being that it’s severely dinged up battery not giving it that long to function. Be that as it may be, we see that Yolandi, the “mother hen” of the three, decide to welcome it with open arms and give it the name of “Chappie” and from there we see our robot hero slowly begin to comprehend just what it means to be a living organism even as he is being duped by the crooks into helping them get the cash with the promise of increasing his life span and Moore begins hatching a nefarious scheme of his own….
Now when looking at all the various man vs. machine, man is a machine, and machine is a man slices of cinematic pie that I can think about (so bear with me if that takes a little while) I think it is safe to say that this movie by and large feels perhaps the most similar to either a much more adult Short Circuit or the 1987 RoboCop with the things being similar between the latter and this film being quite astonishing. I mean most assuredly both of these slices of cinematic pie operate with very similar thematic concepts as they both deal with what it means to be human from the point of view that is something that we created, but that is still not human. In the case of the 1987 RoboCop it was the idea that RoboCop was able to remember his time as Alex Murphy, and in this film it’s the fact that Chappie develops a consciousness. Put another way: Chappie is a film that deals with meaningful moments and the summation of how people influence this character be it through his programming or happy and sad moments that we as people all go through in our day to day lives. Indeed this slice of cinematic pie is one that immerses itself in those aspects especially when the titular robot gets his second wind and starts becoming more self-aware and the ensuing journey from childlike in how he sees the world to the end where he is more adult like in how he grapples with the more immersive philosophical concepts that pop up as the movie goes on.
At the same time, Chappie also takes quite few cues from the 1987 RoboCop in regards to shared main ideas and outside plot ingredients. Indeed both of these slices of cinematic pie revolve around a crime plagued locale that has resorted to drastic steps in order to remedy the dilemma in the form of robotic cops being brought in to aid, and maybe even take over for, human counterparts. Like RoboCop, there are also a pair of distinct models up for consideration: the more human-looking robot and the bigger, less human, and more ruthless “Moose” that whilst not exactly a dead-on lookalike for the ED-209 is still astonishingly quite similar though in both look and function. Now even though there is a slight wrinkle in how the 2 main characters’ narrative arcs play out, we also get a huge corporation at the heart of the narrative and even a desolate and disheveled locale where key parts to the narrative play out. Suffice it to say it is quite disheartening to see a slice of cinematic pie like this liberally borrow this much and as a result of all these things being so similar, the film is left to rely on its supporting ingredients if it wants even a chance at standing on its own two feet and being its own thing rather than a simple retread.
Thankfully, film helmer Blomkamp is a helmer with enough skill to his name that he is able to not exactly shield us from the void of novelty present, but rather put all the support ingredients on a higher level so they can better keep the overall movie together. For starters this slice of cinematic pie is blessed with top-caliber digital effects work that is meshed into the rest of the movie so well that I challenge you to figure out where the real world ends and the digital one begins. Nowhere is this more apparent in the work done by Sharlto Copley in making Chappie one of the most realistic digitally conjured up creations I have seen in a slice of cinematic pie in some time. Yes the digital effects team deserves praise for making this technical creation seem like one that actually exists, but more than that it is the work done by Copley in constructing this distinct character on a scale I had not seen before. Indeed Copley manages to locate the best juvenile-like start to this character and from there construct him to the point that by the end Chappie is significantly more of a three-dimensional individual with as close to a soul and heart as a character like him could ever hope to obtain. We also see that Copley is backed up wonderfully by several performances that are just as riveting as the one he gives with particular regard to Dev Patel as Chappie’s intelligent yet goodhearted designer, Hugh Jackman who is having an absolute blast as the thuggish Moore, and Yolandi Visser as Chappie’s for all intents and purposes human mom. Finally, it is also worth noting that Blomkamp also does a wonderful job at throwing into the mix several extremely well done action beats that not only, as in his other movies, brilliantly work within the overall story whilst also operating on their own as just engaging and entertaining moments from a popcorn action perspective.
All in all I think it is safe to say that the slice of cinematic pie that is Chappie, when approaching it from the point of view of its concept alone, is one that genuinely feels similar in a lot of respects to many characters and narratives of a similar ilk from A.I. all the way to Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. Thus when taking that into account, this is hardly the most novel narrative out there, but film helmer Blomkamp, with his distinct way of incorporating absolutely incredible work from the visual effects department, riveting action beats, and a cast of by and large fully fleshed out characters helps make this slice of cinematic pie a lot better than it otherwise would have been due to its core not being the most fulfilling in the world. Thus if you are looking for a brand new movie the likes of which you have never seen before….well best keep on looking. However if you are looking for a film where all the back-up ingredients are able to keep things operating as they should thus resulting in a cinematic outing that, flaws aside, is not that bad then this is the slice of cinematic pie for you. On a scale of 1-5 I give Chappie “2015” a solid 3 out of 5.
