Some thoughts on Chappie

It’s not a great film, but it’s a good film.

It doesn’t bring anything new to the table, at least I don’t think it does. Does it borrow a lot from District 9? To some extent yes, the setting is similar (a near-future Jo’burg rather than an alternate one) where crime is rampant and there’s the odd that isn’t so odd (in this case androids rather than aliens). It more than tips its hat to Robocop. There’s Hugh Jackman’s robot which has legs similar to the ED-209, but while untested it is not prone to error as the ED-209 was. It’s just an eyesore to “urban pacification.”

Chappie’s messages are simple: You are more than your programming, you are more than your upbringing and you make your own choices. Chappie may have had shit parents and his moral compass was out of whack but he still got a sense of right and wrong through there somehow. 

I think because of my recent reading of Zoo City I could empathize more with Yolandi and Ninja (I was thinking of Songweza), to a certain extent (but boy the Die Antwoord songs really come in at inopportune moments). 

Chappie himself is charming, and you can really cringe at the education that he’s getting, you know he’s going to be set up for disappointment (everyone lies). 

More thoughts:

Sigourney Weaver is a bit underutilized, she does fine in the role she’s given, but there could have been more depth?

Hugh Jackman proves that the worse the haircut, the more of an asshole he becomes. Should have been pulled aside by HR the moment of the gun-joke (an aside, the previews included a message from the Gov’t of Ontario about Sexual Harrassment, staying silent isn’t an option). His character has something to prove, and he’s invested all of his self worth in that ED-209. His character reminds me of the one chasing after Sharlto in District 9.

Dev Patel does well as the engineer that first brings Chappie to life, is motives appear mostly selfless but you get the feeling that if he’d raised Chappie his education would have been….lacking. Very cerebral yes but I don’t know, something missing (human interaction?)

Although Ninja is prone to be a caricature of the criminal type it didn’t once feel faked.

The ending is a bit pat, a bit District 9 and nicely wrapped into a big bow. Could be worth revisiting (I doubt it tho, not with all the people clamouring for a District 9 sequel)

So Bottom line? worth seeing, I liked it.

Oh and the worst segue in movie trailers: Mad Max: Fury Road (which I’ve seen the trailers a million times and love it each time) followed by Paul Blartt, Mall Cop 2. (ugh and people were laughing)