I recently had the chance to rent this from RedBox, and unfortunately it was a waste of time and money. I wrote this review first over at Favslist and decided I might as well post it here because this blog has been left to the dust. Btw, spoilers ahead.
As for my other blog, I've ended it. I may write a book, album, or movie review here but I don't have any plans to put a lot of effort into this blog.
Blomkamp seems really hellbent on letting the world know that Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of the worst places to live. Not only was it mentioned as a bad place in District 9, here he goes so far as to say that not even the police can handle being there and they need robots to fight crime for them. When watching it you first get a sense of it being like Short Circuit, a robot gaining self-awareness and this is his journey. Nope. More than halfway through you get another sense of this being about self-preservation, "what is a robot to do when faced with its own mortality?" Nope. And then by the third act its an action movie and you're so damn tired of Die Antwoord's horrible acting you may just cheer when they finally bite the dust. The ending is the ultimate letdown when you realize that its recycled from District 9.
Chappie doesn't grow as a character because he's not allowed to grow, Blomkamp as the writer didn't want him to grow, his potentials for learning and comprehension are only mentioned in passing. He's not allowed to think for himself even after gaining access to the internet, which could open up several thousand new cans of worms. He learns, for sure, but its about how to be angry. Any attempt on playing on the emotions of the audience are interrupted when Ninja opens his mouth (you may need to watch this one with subtitles just to understand him) and spouts about how he wants a murdering robot. Whereas Ex Machina was about a robot wanting to be human, Chappie is only given the opportunity to ask about his existence only to have it shrugged off. He's just a robot and the film does everything in its power to remind you that that is all he will ever be.
The action sequences are one of the few cinematic saving graces with great direction, clear visuals, and nice CGI. The designs of Chappie and the Moose are decent but awfully barebones in detail. There's not much science in describing how they work. Most of the movie seems to take place in Die Antwoord's hideout and almost feels like the office scene was rented for three days so they had to shoot quickly. That's enough of that, back to the abandoned factory!
During the last action sequence, when the gang's third wheel gunman meets his demise at the hands of the Moose, you don't feel for his character AT ALL. At one point he mentions "I can go back home now!" He means to Mexico. Does he have a wife and kids? Did he get mixed up in all this and get deported? Oh I'm sorry now he's a splatter on the wall. Thanks for watching. Die Antwoord's reason for being criminals, "because we're bad guys, and bad guys are criminals, and criminals steal stuff." A background motive would have been greatly appreciated. What's even worse than Die Antwoord being criminals is that they owe money to someone else who is an even worse character. "I want everything" is his motive and you feel no justice when he meets the business end of a shovel. Yes, a shovel. A nice analogy that even though this movie is about high concept technology its very savage and simple in its execution.
Like an unknown boy band playing a state fair in the late 90s, Chappie has the potential to make you take notice of what its doing but its ultimately ignored in favor of others that have gone before and have done so much better. Chappie is Crappie.
Chappie doesn't grow as a character because he's not allowed to grow, Blomkamp as the writer didn't want him to grow, his potentials for learning and comprehension are only mentioned in passing. He's not allowed to think for himself even after gaining access to the internet, which could open up several thousand new cans of worms. He learns, for sure, but its about how to be angry. Any attempt on playing on the emotions of the audience are interrupted when Ninja opens his mouth (you may need to watch this one with subtitles just to understand him) and spouts about how he wants a murdering robot. Whereas Ex Machina was about a robot wanting to be human, Chappie is only given the opportunity to ask about his existence only to have it shrugged off. He's just a robot and the film does everything in its power to remind you that that is all he will ever be.
The action sequences are one of the few cinematic saving graces with great direction, clear visuals, and nice CGI. The designs of Chappie and the Moose are decent but awfully barebones in detail. There's not much science in describing how they work. Most of the movie seems to take place in Die Antwoord's hideout and almost feels like the office scene was rented for three days so they had to shoot quickly. That's enough of that, back to the abandoned factory!
During the last action sequence, when the gang's third wheel gunman meets his demise at the hands of the Moose, you don't feel for his character AT ALL. At one point he mentions "I can go back home now!" He means to Mexico. Does he have a wife and kids? Did he get mixed up in all this and get deported? Oh I'm sorry now he's a splatter on the wall. Thanks for watching. Die Antwoord's reason for being criminals, "because we're bad guys, and bad guys are criminals, and criminals steal stuff." A background motive would have been greatly appreciated. What's even worse than Die Antwoord being criminals is that they owe money to someone else who is an even worse character. "I want everything" is his motive and you feel no justice when he meets the business end of a shovel. Yes, a shovel. A nice analogy that even though this movie is about high concept technology its very savage and simple in its execution.
Like an unknown boy band playing a state fair in the late 90s, Chappie has the potential to make you take notice of what its doing but its ultimately ignored in favor of others that have gone before and have done so much better. Chappie is Crappie.
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