Third stop on my most anticipated movies list, here’s Chappie, the latest movie of the South African director Neill Blomkamp. In Johannesburg, after an outburst of violence, a mechanized police force is put in charge of re-establishing peace in the city. When Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), the creator of those machines, is forced to reprogram a stolen drone, he creates an artificial intelligence able to think and feel for itself.
For Deon, this artificial intelligence is just an experiment, a first test of his program. Well, Chappie is exactly that. While I loved District 9, and disliked Elysium, I was confused and frustrated by Chappie. It had a lot of potential, but the result is just so incredibly messy and irksome that even the few enjoyable details are lost in the chaos of the story.
Where do I even begin? Let’s start with the pleasant elements. First off, Chappie is epic looking. We are once again in Johannesburg, in a not so distant future where mayhem is king. It’s basically District 9 with actual buildings and no aliens, but it makes sense with the chaotic and heavy atmosphere. The ruins surrounding the city and the gray buildings, clashing with the quite colorful but deconstructed inside of the gangster warehouse… I really liked that look. Plus the CGI is beautiful.
Then, when it comes to the performances of the actors in Chappie, it’s good, definitely not great, but good. Kudos to Sharlto Copley for his first motion capture, and for successfully conveying Chappie’s state of mind only through his voice. Next up is Dev Patel. I love the guy, but even if I liked his performance here, his character is too much of a mess to enjoy anything about him -think about it, he created a revolution but leaves it behind and then comes back to teach it… ridiculous. Oh and what about Sigourney Weaver, whose acting is so bad it hurts! Her character is useless and, once again, doesn’t make any sense. I’m sorry but when someone announces that they just created an artificial intelligence of this caliber, I would consider it with more care and attention. Here comes the South African duo Die Antwoord aka Yolandi Visser and Ninja as Yolandi and Ninja, the gangster form of their stage characters. They fit nicely the universe, but most of the movie revolves around them and let’s face it, they’re not actors. As for Hugh Jackman, he most certainly gave the most impressive performance in Chappie. I just completely hated his character, this ex-military bully! He made him very much believable. Thank you, Hugh.
Chappie has good elements, but they’re never fully developed! There’s too much going on, all at the same time. The audience is almost never provided with closure for one part of the story or another. I mean, when you think you’re going to get an answer to one of the plot lines, we’ve already been dragged into another. It lacks construction and it’s just hard to follow.
However there’s an interesting reflection behind Chappie, it carries a gripping message about humanity and its future. What makes a human? The machine with a conscience or the human who thinks like a machine? Humanity is probably Blomkamp’s favorite subject, as we can find it everywhere in his universe. I also realized something while talking about the movie with a friend, Chappie is not actually composed of the usual Good vs Bad outline seen in so many movies. There’s a reflection on what is considered good and what is considered bad. The contrast between Chappie and Hugh Jackman’s character, Vincent, has its importance. The fact that in the end, Vincent and his machine are just one entity designed to kill while Chappie cares for others and saves the people he cares about. It blurs the definition of humanity. Or at least that’s how I see it!
If you’ve seen Blomkamp’s previous movies, Chappie is nothing new. I don’t really know if I should recommend it or not, but I guess that it’s one of those kinds of movies for which you really have to forge your own opinions on.
Rating: 2.5/5
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