By Ian Rapoport
Executive Arts Editor
Director Neill Blomkamp started his career brilliantly, as his 2009 debut and best picture-nominated film “District 9” is one of the best science-fiction films in years. Unfortunately, its follow up, “Elysium,” was merely fun and his new release, “Chappie,” is barely decent. It is too bad Blomkamp is a one-hit wonder.
“Chappie” is marred with an overwhelming amount of problems. It is poorly cast, with one-dimensional characters and overwhelming conflicting stories. The film’s creative hero is the only element that holds it back from being a complete disaster.
The film is set in the near future of the South African city of Johannesburg. In response to the city’s rising crime, the police force successfully implements robots as police enforcers. Despite his rising fame, the robots’ creator, Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), becomes frustrated in his attempts to create a sentient machine.
After his company refuses to support his endeavor, Deon steals parts for a robot with the goal of making one with consciousness but is immediately kidnapped by a group of gangsters. While in captivity, Deon builds his childlike robot, Chappie (Sharlto Copley), but the gangsters steal it to assist them in an upcoming heist.
It is clear early on that there is a lot going on in “Chappie,” but nothing is fulfilling. The narrative switches between focusing on different people raising Chappie, Chappie deciding who he wants to be, the heist itself and much more. There is too much happening for anything to receive an appropriate amount of attention.
It is only at the very end of the film that the story is focused, centering solely around the implications of creating artificial intelligence that exceeds anything a human is capable of. However, the film is so bogged down until this point that the climax feels like wasted potential.
This overwhelming feeling is also evident in the film’s characters, as the massive cast is too large for most of the characters to be fully developed. Each character only has one or two unique traits, filling the film with a multitude of forgettable people.
The strangest thing about “Chappie” is Blomkamp’s pride for his South African culture, as seen in his casting choices. Blomkamp cast the major gangsters with the duo from the popular South African rap group Die Antwoord, Yolandi (Yo-Landi Visser) and Ninja (Watkin Tudor Jones), but both are horrible actors.
Their line delivery feels forced as Jones is always angry, and Visser’s bland attempts at emotion fail to justify her supposedly compassionate character. Worse yet, the audience is meant to root for Ninja as one of the main characters, but he is simply a violent and detestable human being with nothing likeable about him.
With such a host of flaws, it is a genuine surprise that Chappie turns out to be such an endearing protagonist. Watching him fall in love with painting and reading is heartening, resembling a sort of realistic version of the Pixar character Wall-E.
The scene where Chappie is abandoned is emotionally devastating thanks to Copley’s sensitive voice work and motion capture, selling Chappie as a scared child. The character’s emotional vulnerability, coupled with the way in which he mimics other characters’ subtle actions, makes for a hero with a sense of depth.
“Chappie” is an awful film with an outstanding character at the center. It is easy to root for Chappie despite the film’s many flaws, leaving a film that feels like a wasted opportunity.
“Chappie” is rated R and is playing in theaters nationwide.
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