Chappie movie review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic reviews....

Chappie is a science fiction action film from director Neill Blomkamp, who's previously done District 9 and Elysium, both of which I loved. The film follows a robotics engineer Deon Wilson who develops an AI program, which runs essentially like a humans brain. The film stars Sharlto Copley as the voice of Chappie, Dev Patel as Deon, as well as Hugh Jackman & Sigourney Weaver.

Now, so-far a lot of people have been giving Chappie a lot of heat for a number of reasons. Now, I'm normally one to side with the majority when it comes to movie reviews, but I'm going to take the uncommon stance on Chappie. Firstly, I thought Sharlto Copley did a fantastic job playing Chappie. He was likable, he was believable, he made the character of Chappie an very likable and relatable character. Dev Patel & Hugh Jackman are also pretty good in the movie, as to be expected from the both of them being good actors.

Although I'm taking the minority side on this, it's not to say Chappie isn't flawed. The films pacing and the way the story is executed, mainly in the ending, leads to me having some issues with the film. I won't go into to much detail, but this movie tended to go up and down in terms of the quality of the story. The film doesn't always execute that as well as you'd hope, which leads to some moments being bad, and other moments being good. And again, I really wasn't a fan of this movies ending, I thought - at best - it could've been done better.

It's interesting to see this story be told from this perspective. Basically, Chappie is built by Deon Wilson, but is "kidnapped" by this small gang-ish group, who essentially corrupt Chappie and turn him into a criminal. This is where the film lost a lot of people, because apparently a most people interpreted this as an attempt to make these criminals seem likable, which they aren't. My take on the film is that this is a story about the uprise of crime corrupting youth, and it's a story told in a really interesting and dynamic way. Personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about.

Final Rating
Chappie is a well acted, and interesting film that is both an action film and a drama. It may not be as good as District 9 or even Elysium, but it's certainly better than what critics give it credit for. If you like Neill Blomkamp films, or stuff like Bicentennial Man or A.I., I'd say go check it out. Chappie is a interesting and unique film, and also a pretty good time despite having a few circuits loose.

Chappie: 3.7/5