This movie is seriously bizarre. It's an R-rated movie with a kids' movie's DNA mixed in with some version of Die Antwoord fan fiction. I think if you're a fan of that band you may get a lot of enjoyment out of this because the two members are easily the main characters here and I felt there was a definite tongue-in-cheek level to their performances. Considering I didn't even know who they were until someone told me when the first trailer for this came out I did not fall into that category. The Yolandi member is fine and has some genuinely touching moments here. "Ninja" is one of the worst actors I've ever seen and plays such an incredibly unlikable character. The scenes where he tries to teach Chappie to be 'gangsta' are honestly excruciating on a Jar-Jar Binks kind of level. It's also bizarre because the two clearly seem to be playing themselves and the soundtrack is mostly made up of their music. The rest of the movie is decent though as I said it's incredibly odd to have such a child-friendly premise in a film with this much violence. It's basically a riff on the formula we've seen before in movies such as E.T. and A.I. to name a few. It's entertaining for the most part and doesn't really drag, and the action sequences and special effects are expectedly great. Dev Patel and Hugh Jackman are solid as is Sharlto Copely in a motion-capture performance as the central character. Sigourney Weaver has absolutely nothing to do and is stranded in a thankless supporting role. I thought Hans Zimmer's score was fantastic and managed to keep the movie compelling throughout. Overall, it's OK. It has its moments but it's far from great and I'm not surprised critics aren't responding to it. I thought Elysium was much better. C+

Good stuff. B+. Asks interesting questions.

Oh where to begin? Really, that is a real question. I am a huge fan of District 9, it is honestly one of my favorite science fiction movies. Blomkamp failed with his second feature, Elysium but the trailers for his third feature Chappie showed a ton of promise. Whoever did the marketing for Chappie deserves some kind of raise because the film was awful in nearly every way possible. While the film certainly was not boring by any stretch of the imagine, it was unintentionally hilarious the majority of it's run time. First off, this band Die Antwoord in the two lead roles should have never been allowed to act. They create two of the most unbearable, awful characters I think I've ever witnessed. The scenes where they make Chappie gangster (which he is for around 75 minutes of the running time) are hilarious. My friend and I were literally crying from laughing. Then this ridiculous robot villain called The Moose. The dialogue is hilarious ("sleepy weepy!") awful. I felt so bad for Jackman and Weaver who were both incredibly underused and wasted. The end is also just really, really bad. A total misfire. At least I had some good laughs.

F

I call bull shit on you "literally crying from laughing."

Oh no, there were honestly actual tears. I swear on my pets and my beloved deceased grandparents. We were literally crying from laughing so hard.

To date, the films of South African science-fiction director Neill Blomkamp are clearly set in the same world or at least very similar ones: an always-in-flux, dangerous, degraded vision of the capital Johannesburg. It is a heightened arena in which social allegories (for apartheid, for universal health care, for the human condition) unfold amidst aliens and robots, criminals and soldiers. Many have criticized the repetition, but I find it admirable: he has an amazing understanding of this world (its social structure, its very shapes and textures) and how to stage sequences of action and suspense within it. This holds true with his new film, Chappie, a hypnotic, insane, and entirely unique experience already widely undervalued. Set in a near future partly policed by droids, it is the story of the first sentient machine (Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley in a marvelous motion-capture performance) and the humans—his nerdy and well-intentioned creator (Dev Patel), a robot-designing religious fanatic (an intimating Hugh Jackman), a pair of outlandish gangsters (Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser of Die Antwoord)—fighting to shape his destiny.

This is an out-of-control film, which is largely why I dig it. It is kinetic. It is cinematic and deeply alive. Big ideas give way to vulgar humor. The innocence of a child gives way to eruptions of graphic violence. The film wildly veers from left to right, ensuring the audience remains alarmed and alert and amused and a bit anxious. And there is an astonishing, almost intoxicating amount of visual information on display: no space is empty or unadorned (with futuristic technology, with absurd street art), and the faces are far more eclectic than usual for a big-budget studio film. Among them are two controversial casting choices: macabre, primal-screaming rap duo Die Antwoord portraying fictionalized versions of themselves or at least acting under their own stage names. They even wear their musical outfit's merchandise. It is an unusual (inexplicable?) meta-textual choice, but they won me over. Both have turned themselves into flesh-and-blood comic-strip characters to perform their music, and the characters they play on record and in concert snugly fit Blomkamp's futurist-anarchic aesthetic. Yo-Landi has a particularly soulful and unpracticed screen presence, and I rather doubt whether a more conventional performer could have slid so easily into this role, a gun-toting waif who rapidly develops an unexpected and warm maternal instinct toward her robotic charge.

A-

I found the third-act image of Patel (newly conscious inside a robot) standing over his dead human form very striking. Almost creepy and poignant at the same time.

What in the world was so funny?

With low expectations this was better than I was expecting. The only major thing that I thought was idiotic was the subtitles for that one dude when you can clearly hear what he's saying... Like what.

Chappie or Patel obviously have never heard of a hospital.

The whole "gangsta" scene was hilariously awful, everything about it. Some of the really badly written lines, the fact that the "bad robot" was called The fucking Mole. And then the ending was hilarious.

The Moose.

He was shot in the gut and had bled profusely for several minutes. If there is a gap in logic, it is the fact he remained conscious and alive and relatively mobile for approximately 20 minutes.

LOL I meant to write The Moose when I was typing but I was watchin Kimmy Schmidt while I was replying, so Mole was stuck in my head.

I agree with publicenemy. I came in with low expectation because of the lukewarm reviews. The two "parents" of Chappie were annoying and unlikable but that was the point of turning him into gangster Chavvie. The only thing that was confusing is how they were flip-flopping on wheter Chavvie could remain alive even after switching to a new body host.

Is duplicating conscious the same thing as transferring it? I'm not sure, leaning towards no.

I like what this movie was going for, but felt it could have been executed a lot better. I was uncomfortable for most of it, just waiting for it be over. Some of it really works, like Chappie's talks with Deon about life and death. There's not enough of that though, with the action parts (and set up to these action parts) of the film intruding on every aspect that is interesting. I don't often say that, but here it was glaring. I think it would have been better without Hugh Jackman's character.

But that is exactly the thing. The film cannot have it both ways. He stayed alive for quite some time after being shot, so he could have easily been taken to a hospital. If the wound was so bad, he should have died quicker.

Eh, it is just not a problem for me. In the sweeping history of cinematic contrivances, this seems a fairly organic and inoffensive one. He is shot and bleeding out. The film has established an idea of transitioning a person's mind into a machine. It fits together well.

Plus, maybe hospitals are awful and overrun in this anarchic, futuristic Johannesburg, a la the Bucharest shit-holes in The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.

It was a mess, but I can't say that I hated it. I think I slightly still prefer Elysium over this, but it honestly wasn't that much worse IMO. I really liked the visuals/look of the movie although I hope Blomkamp can finally get away from this Johannesburg setting in the future. The action in the last half is quite solid aswell, but I just couldn't get over how ridiculous evil Hugh Jackman was. I never found the guy the least bit scary with his white trash mullet and cargo shorts lol!. He seemed like he had fun with the role though, so I'll give him that.

The Die Antwoord stuff was there, but it didn't completely ruin the movie for me. They are obviously not great actors, but I didn't mind Yolandi's motherly relationship with Chappie, infact I actually bought into it a few times. I could give less of two shits for Ninja though, because the guy is pretty much a unlikeable asshole most of the movie. Sharlto Copley is once again fantastic in a main role, Dev Patel was ok too, but poor Sigourney Weaver just can't stay in a movie for more than 10 minutes these days.

CHAPPiE

Absolutely sublime! Neill Blomkamp, you are forgiven for Elysium. You're back on track. CHAPPiE is a relentless, fast-paced, touching, science-fiction action film that is full of awesomeness in every area. It's going to be a sci-fi great (at least for me). It mixes elements of Dredd, Robocop, and District 9 very well together (I also got some Short Circuit vibes). Any film that makes me feel for a robot has done its job, and done its job very well indeed. He is adorable, cute, innocent, and I love him. I was so sad for him at times during the film, and Blomkamp gets the balance right, so the pay-off is that much greater when he defends himself. The story is pretty excellent (however it uses many film conveniences), and everything feels so refined. The score is powerful, the dialogue is largely acceptable, and the effects are second to none. There's also many social statements if you cared to pick up on them and didn't just see it as an actioner. Oh, and Jackman delivers (especially the "joke-but-not-a-joke" scene). Patel is great too, even if he starts off a little shaky. Sigourney Weaver isn't great, but she's only in it for a few scenes. Yolandi Visser is pretty excellent, and Blomkamp favourite, Sharlto Copley, is what brings this masterpiece all together.

A

Yay!

This is a good movie. The movie starts off well straightaway, I love how we dive straight into the events of the future age of crime-fighting. The acting is well around, Jackman is goood, Patel is fine, I enjoyed the roles of the Die Antwoord duo. The Spanish dude was the weakest link though I felt, he didn't fit in for me. Weaver is ok, she isn't given much to work with. The Die Antwoord duo acts well, I heard some bads things about it, but I didn't find anything bothersome. What I did have a problem with, is how their characters are written. I didn't believe for once they were actual gangsters. And there were was some dialogue at some other points in the movie that I just found weird. When Patel is driving off from Chappie the first time, "believe in yourself or something", and then of course that comes back again later in the movie. That didn't feel so natural to me. Neither did Jackman while controlling the Moose. I felt he was still hanging in the Real Steel mood, which is an inferior movie to this. Aside from that segment Jackman played the villain really well. The music was definitely top notch, and probably the highlight of the movie for me. Cinematography was good as well. Overall this is a much better movie than Elysium, and on par with district 9, which is a notch better from what I remember, but I would need a re-watch.

Elysium had a cooler premise, but a much worse execution. That had actually holes in the story, and was just very clunky. Chappie, needs better writing too, and I just feel a bit of the Lucas Syndrome here, where one guy is given too much control over a movie, and there's enough feedback from other to steer some things on a better path.

B

You've got no heart.

(chuckle) I've heard that before...