Review of Chappie (2015) by Preston L — 22 Sep 2015

I finally got a chance to see this one that came out forever ago. Chappie is the story of a robotics scientist named Deon Wilson who has created a robotic police force to combat the growing crime wave in South Africa. He cracks the code for artificial intelligence and installs it in a broken down robot, which "comes to life" and has to learn and grow, much like a child.

Things I Liked:

Dev Patel and Hugh Jackman. Patel plays Deon, the creator of Chappie, and Jackman plays Vincent Moore, the creator of ED-209...more or less. (Robocop jokes!) Patel once again gives a solid performance as Deon and really shows a great amount of skill to stand toe to toe with these other, more experienced, actors and gives a lot of the heartfelt moments. Jackman plays Moore who is a jealous co-worker of Deon's and becomes the antagonist for the film and is one of the most watchable characters in the entire movie.

The Originality. The story goes to a really interesting and new direction that really made me excited by the idea. Which I can't explain at all because it spoils the entire third act of the movie. But it was really cool how they took the idea of a robot seeking becoming more like a human in a way that I didn't expect and really made me enjoy the ending of the movie.

Sharlto Copley. Copley plays Chappie. He's entirely done through CGI and Motion Capture and he does a great job. The physicality of the character, the fact that you can feel emotion through a character with no real face. Copley has shown great skill in many of his other performances and this one is no exception. He is remarkably good as Chappie.

Things I Didn't Like:

The Plot. The plot is confusing, the plot is long, the plot is convoluted. The Plot Is Terrible! The movie is basically three smaller films that work together in a convoluted mess. The second act completely negates what happens in the first and the third other than some minor relationship building but over all the plot of this movie just doesn't work.

Overall. Overall the movie has some memorable performances and a really interesting original idea but the plot gets so confusing and messy that it almost makes the film hard to get through. I would have liked to see the film if they cut out a majority of the middle act this may be a better film, and while I really was fascinated and enjoyed many parts of the movie it doesn't shine as bright as it could.