In the near future, crime is patrolled by a mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself (Source: IMDB)
- A sentient robot learns what it is to be human
- An evil robotics engineer wants to rid the city of crime, but using his massive, overly powered gun-machine robots
Does this sound familiar? It should. These are the plots of Short Circuit (1986) and RoboCop (1987).. put them together, along with the South American Rap group “Die Antwoord” and you have Chappie. As with all of Blomkamp’s movies, it has strong over tones of South African social structure.
I really did enjoy this movie. Another thing that Blomkamp is known for is examples of fantastic CGI effects, that are photo realistic. The quality and physics involved are damned near spot on, but without the “Uncanny Valley” feel that turns so many people off.
And honestly, I have to say that Yolandi and Ninja did a great job playing their parts. Some might argue that having Yolandi and Ninja playing street tough punks is like having Stephen Hawking playing a scientist stuck in a wheelchair, well yes, your right in that respect.. but the parts fit them, and they worked out great.
I think the only real issue I had in the whole thing is.. a helmet wired up to pick up brain activity is not going to work on a robot.. a USB interface would have been more believable. Other than that, well done.
