Chappie (2015)

In Johannesburg, the police department reduced the high rating of criminality using robots from the Tetravaal Company, designed by the engineer Deon Wilson. The former military Vincent Moore is envious of Deon, since he has developed another project called Moose, but neither Tetravaal nor the police department is interested. Deon has just developed an Artificial Intelligence but the Tetravaal's CEO Michelle Bradley asks him to abort the project. Deon decides to bring the damaged Robot 22 that was sent to be crushed to test his A.I. However he is kidnapped by the criminals Ninja, Yo-Landi and Amerika that want him to stop the robot cops. When they see the damaged robot in the van, they force Deon to program it to heist banks with them and they call it Chappie. However, Chappie acts like a child and need to be trained to learn and grow. Meanwhile Vincent follows Deon and plots an evil scheme to activate his robot. - synopsis from IMDB

Cast - full listing

Genres

action, science-fiction

Facts & Figures

Directed by Neill Blomkamp.

Rated 6.9 on IMDB from 187335 votes.

Runtime: 120 min.

Review

In another fictional Johannesburg movie, Blomkamp explores similar themes. Without shining like District 9, Chappie is actually quite well done and very entertaining.

Maybe it’s just the South African thing, but the style is immediately recognizable. Our main character is vulnerable and amiable all at once. At the same time, there is a strong sense of unique identity in his personality. Another noteworthy performance by Copley brings this home. Complemented with some other very quirky characters, an interesting set arises to support the storyline.

With Chappie, we are also confronted with the way children are influenced by their surroundings and we’re shown how exposure to very different influences forms character. Who doesn’t love a robot acting out development that is only found in humans?

Fortunately, the tech aspect of the story is not the main focus. This means its inevitable holes are no real hindrance to an enjoyable movie. So, if you’re in the mood for a loveable robot and have seen the other one, Chappie will not let you down. Because he’s really not that kind of “guy”.

Seen: 02 Oct 2015