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    Chappie

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    I’m man enough to admit I was wrong about "Chappie". I was initially dazzled by its special effects and unique approach to the story. I see clearly now. This picture ultimately throws away its potential thanks to a dumb climax and a misguided belief that we care about its criminal protagonists.

    What if the first fully self-aware, sentient artificial intelligence was raised by the worst people? In crime-ridden Johannesburg, Deon (Dev Patel) has created Chappie (voiced by Sharlto Copley). Unfortunately, the young robot isn’t being raised by its maker. It’s been stolen by criminals Ninja and Yolandi (played by the African rap artists of the same name): thugs who teach the robot to commit crimes and settle their drug debt.

    "Chappie" begins with a solid idea. When we typically explore the subject of "artificial intelligence", it's either misunderstood until it befriends a friendly child or becomes evil immediately and plots mankind’s extinction. Chappie may be made of metal and circuits but it’s little more than an easily-impressionable child in a body whose strength and endurance exceed any normal person’s. It’s endearing to see it misinterpret the deluge of profanities uttered by Ninja and you’ll grow nervous watching the criminals trick it doing their dirty work. You feel for Deon, who desperately wants to get his creation back.

    Along with this unique take on the Frankenstein story, the picture’s got a lot of style. The soundtrack by Ninja and Yolandi fits perfectly with their bizarre vernacular, graffiti-laden hideout and the film's general tone. They’re childish but dangerous all at once. One thing you could never call "Chappie" is "generic".

    As the story moves along, details about it foreshadow trouble. Deon is one of the dumbest scientists we’ve ever seen. He’s got absolutely no sense of preservation whatsoever. He's constantly coming back to visit Chappie and his family despite having guns waved in his face. He never even considers calling the authorities when every sign points towards the former police robot being used to commit crimes. You might say it’s because he’d get in serious trouble with his boss (Sigourney Weaver, doing Neil Blomkamp a favor by appearing but having little to do) but who are they going to believe, the scientist, or the criminals? Even if the seemingly reasonable Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo) corroborated their story, there’s no way the police wouldn’t side with the robotics genius!

    Oh but it gets worse. In the end, this film is about much more than artificial intelligence: it’s also about ripping off "Robocop". With a smidge of transhumanism thrown in. The film’s villain isn’t actually the criminals who have adopted Chappie; it’s Hugh Jackman as Vincet Moore. He's a cartoon character obsessed with pushing his urban pacification robot as the next best thing. One look at it, and you wonder what the hell he’s thinking. It’s a 10-ton, bipedal behemoth that can fly, shoot rockets, slice people up with its saw OR its giant mechanical pincer and is equipped with infra-red sight, a railgun and who knows what other goodies. This beast would feel out of place in the lawless streets of “Escape from New York”. Why hasn’t he been shut down yet? Every scene with Moore might as well be set in front of a giant neon sign that reads "evil”.

    The strategy seems to have been “introduce an even BIGGER villain so that we forget how unlikable Ninja and Yolandi are. Na-unh. It doesn’t matter how action-packed and explosive the film’s last scenes may be. They’re not enough to make you forget what happened before, certainly not when they're as predictable as this. It only gets worse from there. It’s a giant misstep following a long trip down the stairs.

    It doesn’t even take long to see what’s wrong with “Chappie”. The signs are all there from the start and no effort was made to deviate from the wrong direction it was headed for. I enjoyed "Chappie" very much when I saw it in theatres. Now, it’s a little embarrassing to have been that enthusiastic about it. Maybe if you’re a big fan of Ninja and Yolandi, or if you get a kick out of seeing your hometown of Johannesburg in a movie, you’d get something out of this picture. Otherwise, stay away. (February 22, 2019)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  26.3.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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