Chappie Movie Review:
The Robot Works
BY IAN
TAN
Chappie
is set in a world where law enforcement has become almost entirely mechanical,
with robot cops (RoboCops? Heheh) called Scouts showing great promise in the
decrease of crime rates in Johannesburg. Deon, the inventor of the Scouts,
plans to enhance this technology and create conscious, living Scouts, and
through a series of circumstances, Chappie is born. But not all is happy and
cheery, as Chappie not only has to face the cruelty of the real world and the
gangsters that inhibit it, but the determined-to-ruin-Deon’s-career Vincent
Moore (Hugh Jackman) as well.
The OGs from da hood |
The performances here are great. Dev
Patel is sympathetic and likable as protagonist Deon while Jackman makes for a hateable
antagonist as Vincent Moore. Supporting cast members such as Watkin Tudor Jones and
South African deejay Yolandi are memorable in their respective roles as well.
The one who deserves the most praise, however, is Neill Blomkamp’s muse Sharlto
Copley as Chappie. Copley does wonders not only as the voice of Chappie, but as
an animation reference as well (the “poor man’s motion capture” as Copley calls
it). Some of the more heart-wrenching and emotional scenes - both dramatic and
subtle – are elevated by Copley’s performance. Chappie can now be added to
Hollywood’s list of most likeable robots in film.
Chappie in action |
As good as the film’s story, script
and performances are, it isn’t without a few drawbacks. One of which is the
editing by Julian Clarke, which either spends too long a time on certain scenes
and too short a time on other, arguably more important scenes of drama. Scenes
between characters like Deon and Vincent seem far in between, making their
presence feel almost absent for the middle chunk of the film. Had the editing
of the film focused a little more on the bitterness between the characters, the
final confrontation towards the end would’ve had a much bigger emotional impact
on audiences. Besides that, the ending of the film did feel a tad too much like
District 9’s ending, and may annoy
some audiences in how the events towards the end of the film happen without a deeper explanation to it’s plausibility. I can’t really say much
about it without spoiling it though. Another nit-pick I have with the film is
the Moose robot (that one created by Hugh Jackman’s character as seen in the
trailer), which seems a little too familiar to the ED-209 from RoboCop.
"I'll claw ya, bub." |
With fine performances, some good
sci-fi drama and storytelling, Chappie is
Blomkamp’s second best picture to date, just behind District 9. Despite being bogged down by a few editing issues and a
questionable ending, on an emotional and story level, Chappie works.
Final Verdict
Chappie gets 8 out of 10 stars – Well worth your money. No need to catch
this one in IMAX though (unless you like cool robotic sound design), I’d save
that for Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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