Chappie

Review

By Colton Gomez | 03/29/24 | 11:49 P.M. Mountain Time

Action, Sci-Fi | Rated R | 2 hrs | "Chappie" Release Date: March 6, 2015

Jose Pablo Cantillo (left) fist bumps Chappie, voiced by Sharlto Copley (right). © Columbia Pictures.

Neill Blomkamp’s third entry in his unofficial “District 9” trilogy is perhaps the worst of them. The first entry was spectacular, the second, “Elysium” was far from perfect, but was okay as a film. “Chappie” is so unbelievable as a plot and story, that not even Sharlto Copley’s loveable persona as the titular robotic character could save this film. There are far too many inconsequential characters given screen time, many of which are completely unlikable and unsympathetic.

Chappie is a robot with the mind of a child who learns about the world, love, death, and complex humans who lie. He was created in a super-advanced facility with super-lackadaisical security, which allows Dev Patel’s character to sneak him out after learning he will be scrapped. Gangster Ninja and his crew plan to rob a money transport that is somehow carrying $600 million and kidnap Chappie to help them. From here, The film leads up to the events of the “heist” which certainly gets less screen time than the annoying and useless characters who inhabit this film. Hugh Jackman also shows up as the villain who just wants to show off his robots.

This movie chooses to be stupid, and I cannot accept that. There are certain moments where, if the people are who the movie says they are, they would never be in the situations they find themselves in. Some call it the “idiot plot.” The genius Chappie inventor, Deon, steals a robot slated for demolition after being told by the head of the company that he cannot use this robot for his consciousness experiment. Nobody checks out the missing robot, nobody comes looking for the key, nobody asks where he is when he goes missing from his desk for the majority of most days. Company resources are flying off the shelves for criminal purposes, vans go missing, and no one cares until the movie decides it is time to care, because it needs conflict here but not there.

The characters of the gangsters are possibly some of the worst ever to be put to film. An annoying trio of dimwitted hotheads who don’t understand technology, take over Chappie and teach him how to be a gangster. Yolandi, Ninja, and Amerika are the names of these characters we spend the majority of the film with. Yolandi is a stay-at-home gangster who is left behind on most errands until the big (tiny) heist at the end. Most of the time, she argues for Chappie’s independence and for others to “leave him alone,” but spends time reading to him, instilling her values in him, and insisting that he call her “Mommy.” Not a shred of romance or chemistry is detected between Yolandi and Ninja, who has Chappie call him “Daddy.” Nevertheless, the film tells us they were in love or something as Ninja looks at old pictures of Yolandi and sadly throws them into the fire. Okay. Sure, just move it along.

The runtime feels a lot longer than its two hours, and that’s because nothing of importance really happens. This is a film about Chappie (or so I thought), but it really doesn’t treat him as a significant character. Mostly, it’s about the gangsters and Deon fighting for control of Chappie, who is essentially a child. I suppose that is the point of the film; to portend humanity’s failures of controlling too ambitious a piece of technology that exposes the cracks in our species and brings us off the high horse of being planet earth’s dominators blah, blah, been there, done that. The overall message of the film is good, but it is so frustrating to watch and doesn’t feel satisfying when it ends. Yolandi in particular got on my nerves because of her self-assigned role as Chappie’s mother/protector and desire to intrude on so many scenes where her presence added absolutely nothing but took all the focus and emotion out of them.

The film has no understanding of technology and that is clear. It shows consciousness being downloaded and installed in a matter of seconds. It shows a titanium robot using a neural helmet to transfer its own consciousness in a matter of seconds. It uses a small fortune of connected PlayStation 4s to power Chappie’s coding work—which he seemingly just knows how to do now, despite many excruciating scenes of seeing him not being able to speak. This next critique is very narrow and only somewhat contributes to the film’s quality. Watching Chappie mime and parrot everything Deon and the gangsters do with complete accuracy, even in their tone of voice, but not be able to curse properly is beyond irritating.

I really want Neill Blomkamp to succeed, and it is a shame that this movie turned out to be so underwhelming. The visual effects are amazing, for the most part, and Sharlto Copley’s performance is the only thing in the film worth watching.

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Review by Colton Gomez

Colton Gomez earned his BA in Film Studies from Weber State University. He owns and operates ColtonGomez.com. Here, he covers new releases in theaters and on streaming. For short versions of his reviews, check out his LetterBoxd

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Summary