Review: ‘Chappie’ is another solid sci-fi movie

Synopsis: After his successful invention of robotic police scouts, Deon (Dev Patel) invents software for artificial intelligence. Being refused the chance to test his software, Deon takes matters into his own hands and hijacks a police droid damaged in the line of duty to run the test himself, only to be mugged and kidnapped by street thugs Ninja Daddy, Yolandi Mommy and Yankie. Deon then is forced to rebuild the broken police droid for the gangsters and sneaks his artificial intelligence into the robot only to find out they want it to assist with a heist.

Director Neill Blomkamp is at it again with another solid sci-fi movie set in South Africa. The concept for this film is nothing short of brilliant and the CGI work throughout is phenomenal. The way they brought Chappie to life really made artificial intelligence look like a possibility in the near future. There were a few large flaws throughout the movie but what really sold us on the film was Chappie himself. From the first moment you are introduced to the android, you become attached to this robot. Watching him seemingly discover the world and “grow up” in a few days is a real treat. The majority of the movie revolves around Ninja, Yolandi and Yankie; the actors did a pretty good job portraying street thugs (especially since this is the motion picture debut for Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser).

What worked: The best part of this movie is Chappie himself. It is such a joy to watch Sharlto Copley portray this robot. We were blown away at how he is able to show Chappie growing up and learning about the world around him. We became attached to Chappie and he absolutely made the movie. The CGI was some of the best we have seen. Between the CGI and the acting, we sometimes forgot Chappie wasn’t real. Patel was enjoyable throughout the film as well, doing a good job as Chappie’s “maker.” We also were surprised by the performances of Ninja and Visser of the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord. We were surprised at the performance they were able to give, with Yankie (Jose Pablo Cantillo) holding their group together nicely. One of our favorite parts of the film is the climax, although we can’t say anything without giving it away. We will just say it ends with a slight twist that is worth seeing.

What didn’t work: Hugh Jackman is the only part of this film that truly disappointed. His overacting at times almost ruined the whole film. He wears a pistol on his hip the entire film, even when his sitting in his cubicle at work. At one point he pulls it on a co-worker and threatens him in the middle of the office. Most of the stunts he tried pulling off during the movie were just unrealistic and way over the top. We have to put some of that blame on the director as well. We respect the actor and never thought there would ever be a time where he would ruin a movie for us. The only thing that Jackman rocked in this film was his baby mullet. Blomkamp is notorious for making his villains part of the military industrial complex. We would have really liked to have seen him step outside the box on this one.

We enjoyed the concept and the majority of the cast in this film. Blomkamp has yet to disappoint us and we’re blown away by his work. This film is definitely worth the money to go see in theaters.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Review: ‘Chappie’ is another solid sci-fi movie."