Review: Chappie

Let us please terminate all discussions of Neill Blomkamp taking on the Alien franchise. Blomkamp made a name for himself with the ingenious District 9, a science fiction satire about aliens abandoned in the slums of Johannesburg. It felt fresh and inventive, and one could not help but admire its little-engine-that-could pluck. His follow-up Elysium, headlined by Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, was an underwhelming effort, its lofty ambitions sorely undermatched by its execution. His third and latest feature Chappie is a strong indication that Blomkamp may be a limited talent.

Directors, even visionaries, are bound by the limitations of their creativity. Even those whose imaginations impress one as unrestricted are working within set goalposts. The trick is how one deals with and overcomes those restrictions. Blomkamp possesses many shortcomings, not the least of which is a predilection for excess when streamlining would be the wiser option. There is simply too much going on in Chappie, and what works becomes buried under so much extraneous nonsense.

The CNN news report that opens the film quickly briefs audiences that crime and corruption have decreased in danger-ridden Johannesburg thanks to a robotic police force designed and manufactured by the robotics firm Tetra Vaal. Its CEO Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver) functions like an understanding but stern maternal figure to her two lead developers, who jockey for her attention and funding. On one side, there is Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman), a former soldier and weapons developer who argues his Moose soldiers, controlled by actual human beings wearing neural helmets, are the better thinking, more moral fighters. On the other side, there is Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), whose Scout soldiers are heavily popular with the local police force. He wants to evolve his robots into machines that can genuinely think and feel.

Deon gets the chance to run his advanced artificial intelligence program on a heavily-damaged robot earmarked for demolition. Named Chappie (voiced by Blompkamp's frequent leading man Sharlto Copley), the droid is like an impressionable child, soaking up knowledge at an alarming rate. For a brief shining moment, Chappie resembles a Kramer vs Kramer for the technological age as Chappie is caught in a tug of war between his creator Deon and his adopted family, a trio of hood rats who kidnapped Deon and forced him to rebuild the rejected bot so they could use it as their own killing machine.

Deon is dismayed at Chappie aping the trio's gangster swagger and filthy language; he makes Chappie promise not to get involved in any criminal activities. The promise is problematic for the trio's leader Ninja, who is irritated that Chappie is learning how to paint and play with dolls instead of learning how to shoot. One of the film's best sequences has Ninja abandoning Chappie in one of the city's rougher sections, resulting in a group of young hooligans throwing stones and setting him on fire. Chappie then finds himself in the clutches of Vincent, who inflicts greater injury. Chappie manages to escape, returning to the comforting arms of his mommy Yo-Landi, who can offer little explanation on why people would be so cruel to him.

The nature versus nurture aspect is already a solid and rich narrative thread, but then Blomkamp weighs it down with gangsters going after Ninja so he can return their millions, and Vincent's maneuverings to destroy Chappie and the rest of the Scouts in order to install his Moose robots in their place. The mulleted Jackman is like an aggressive steroid come to life. He is arguably the most enjoyable actor in this mess, but his character is one of many that could have easily been jettisoned. In fact, all of them could have been binned. Blomkamp and co-screenwriter Terri Tatchell are capable of working in the broadest of strokes, and almost make it impossible for their actors to give proper performances. Jackman circumvents this by sheer force of his charisma. Weaver does as well, inserting little touches like Michelle grabbing her coat and purse before fleeing a perilous situation, a gesture that says a lot about the character. Patel barely hangs on whilst Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser of the South African rap-rave Die Antwoord let their outlandish personas do the work, though Yo-Landi lends a surprising emotionalism to her role.

Chappie

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp

Written by: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sigourney Weaver, Ninja, Yo-Landi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo