Review of Chappie (2015) by Bumblestripe — 08 Mar 2015

I must not have seen the same movie as the critics because this film has become one of my top ten movies. Neill Blomkamp has created a unique film, however critics seem to only be looking at it as copying other movies with robots in them.

Chappie tackles issues about family and nature vs nurture. He has a creator looking out for him and hoping to nourish his mind with art and poetry while the people with custody over him influence him negatively leading to gangster activities.

Another common complaint is that Ninja and Yolandi were horrible actors. I disagree Yolandi had me genuinely interested. She is a very unique person and had a motherly side that I grew to love. Ninja also achieved the his characters point.

He abused his son and forced him to conform to his style of life and do what he wanted, rather than allow his son to become who he wanted to be. Another issue that was tackled in this film was spirituality and consciousness.

How do we define consciousness? Blomkamp creates a robot that can think. I immediately fell in love with Chappie. His mannerism and outlook on life was extremely interesting to watch. I was emotionally distraught in scenes were Chappie was beaten or mistreated in anyway.

This kind of emotional response is what a good movie can create. I understand that the ending may not be for everyone but the way that a Blompkamp takes two characters and ultimately they are one in the same.

I actually felt like the robot Chappie was another human inside the shell of a robot and I think that is what Blompkamp was really trying to get across. I believe that this film's major flaw was that it was marketed in two different ways.

One was a movie focused on violence and the "oppressive police force" as some descriptions call it, however never once in the film are the Scouts in anyway oppressive. They are simply doing their police work effectively.

Another way the movie was marketed was a way that seemed to be trying to appeal to families. I believe some people thought the movie would be something that children would enjoy and then when they found out about the R rating they dropped interested.

Among all of the criticism I think people should stop listening to others and see Chappie for themselves and experience a truly entertaining experience.