From start to finish, everything about the Chappie experience is a pleasant surprise. Yes, Neill Blomkamp’s story of a police robot in the near future who becomes sentient can be viewed as a synthesis of Short Circuit and RoboCop, but the film gets the more familiar plot elements out of the way in the first 10 minutes so it can get straight to the adorable trans-humanist coming-of-age tale without distraction.
Yes, it stars Die Antwoord in major roles and yes, they play themselves, but “Zef” style plays a key role in Chappie’s emotional development and the film’s tone, and the pair are large enough personalities to make it work. What’s more, if your reaction to news of Blomkamp’s forthcoming Alien film went from elation (Woo hoo, the District 9 guy) to dread (Oh crap, the Elysium guy), you will find nothing but comfort in the thematic success that is Chappie.
In the near future, weapons manufacturer Tetra Vaal has hit the jackpot with its SCOUT program, a line of automated police robots that have successfully reduced crime in Johannesburg, South Africa. But crime prevention isn’t of great interest to the genius behind the droids, Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), who wants to create a real learning, thinking mind. After secretly installing his software into a SCOUT scheduled for demolition, Wilson’s childlike creation (Sharlto Copley in motion capture) falls into the hands of low-level thieves (Die Antwoord), finding a sympathetic mother in Yoland—who names him Chappie—and a harsh, self-interested father in Ninja. As Chappie’s will to live and do the right thing grows stronger, the end date on his battery draws nearer, leaving him to contemplate the nature of mortality and consciousness.
Having apparently learned the right lessons from his past successes and failures, Blomkamp avoids the wunderkind curse of such former phenoms as M. Night Shyamalan and Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko), both of whom did damage to their breakthrough films with increasingly diminished returns. Though District 9 is very, very good—excellent even—his inability to deliver on the promising ideas behind Elysium led to worries that Blomkamp might not be the visionary we’d all hoped. All that is put to rest with Chappie, which strikes that rare balance between comedy, drama, morality and stylistic flair.
The premise of Chappie isn’t the most intriguing part. It’s the execution and resolution, showing rather than telling the philosophical and ethical dilemmas presented by the story. Chappie’s pursuit of his own soul is not forced down our throats nor is it an excuse for overblown action sequences. We’re along for the ride with him because we care. Stylistically, the film is virtually flawless. Few of the characters, even the cartoonish ones, feel like throwaways. Ninja occasionally strains with dramatics while nailing the comedic swagger, and Yolandi shines as an adorable mother figure. You can feel the pride in Patel’s eyes over his creation, and even the larger-than-life villain, played by Hugh Jackman as a devoutly Christian ex-special forces anti-AI fanatic, is pitch-perfect.
If Blomkamp’s handling of Chappie’s emotional core is any indication, we needn’t worry about the future of the Alien franchise. This man truly is the auteur we expected him to be, it just took a stinker to get him there.
Playing this week
American Sniper
Birdman
Cinderella
The DUFF
Fifty Shades of Grey
Focus
Kingsmen: The Secret Service
The Lazarus Effect
McFarland, USA
Paddington
Run All Night
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Still Alice
Unfinished Business
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213
