By Bob Garver<\/p>\n
\u201cChappie\u201d is a film that really wants to explore the role of artificial intelligence in mankind\u2019s future. If it was as deep as it claims to be, I might not have such a problem with it. But whatever larger issues it wants to raise can\u2019t be taken seriously because the film is weighed down by its overly convoluted and nonsensical plot.<\/p>\n
The story takes place in future Johannesburg, where a robot police force has made things a lot safer. Deon (Dev Patel), the robots\u2019 engineer, thinks that the robots are a little too, well, robotic, and is developing an artificial intelligence that will allow the robots to think and feel for themselves. His rival is Vincent (Hugh Jackman), who has invented a big clunky robot (clearly an homage to the big clunky robot from \u201cRobocop\u201d) that has to be controlled by a human. Specifically, it has to be controlled by him because he proclaims himself to be a moral authority and nobody questions this. The head of the robotics company (Sigourney Weaver) denies Deon permission to test the artificial intelligence program on a battered old robot (Sharlto Copley) because she says the program isn\u2019t profitable. It\u2019s clear to anyone watching this movie that the program could be very profitable, but the company is moronic in just about every decision it makes, so why wouldn\u2019t it pass up this opportunity?<\/p>\n
Deon steals the robot to do some off-the-clock testing, but he and the robot immediately get kidnapped. Yo-landi (Yolandi Visser), Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and Ninja (an actor who just goes by the name Ninja) are a group of thugs who owe money to a local drug lord (Brandon Auret, who has such a thick accent that he needs subtitles when he speaks English. The movie probably could have used subtitles for Yo-landi too). They need the robot to help them pull off a heist to pay the drug lord back, though I don\u2019t know why they don\u2019t just plan to use the robot to fight him off.<\/p>\n
The problem is that the robot has a blank slate for a mind; it\u2019s basically a newborn. This is frustrating for Amerika and Ninja, but the more maternal Yo-landi catches on pretty easily. She names the robot Chappie because he\u2019s such a happy little chap. Chappie\u2019s development is influenced by the loving Yo-landi, the violent Amerika and Ninja, and the God-like Deon, who somewhat arrogantly thinks that because he created Chappie, that automatically gives him authority over him. Chappie gets conflicting input that forces him to make some choices, and they aren\u2019t always the right ones. Chappie soon finds himself corrupted, and Vincent sees an opportunity to swoop in and save the day.<\/p>\n
The big problem with this movie is that the characters keep making decisions that don\u2019t make sense. I\u2019ve already talked about how it\u2019s idiotic for Weaver to not see the unlimited applications for Deon\u2019s technology. It\u2019s just conflict for the sake of conflict. I also have no idea how Vincent rose to such a position of prominence in the robotics company when he\u2019s such a jerk with impractical ideas. Perhaps worst of all is that the security at the robotics company is laughably incompetent; are we really supposed to believe that these bumblers are keeping Johannesburg safe? The film is overloaded with little detractions like that.<\/p>\n
And yet, I don\u2019t want to be too hard on this movie. The robots, especially Chappie, are really well-designed, and director Neill Blomkamp proves once again that he has a flair for visual effects. It\u2019s funny too, and the characters (except the ever-miserable Vincent) have engaging personalities. The larger issues it raises about morality and spirituality are interesting, even if they make up too little of the movie. But that mess of a plot keeps getting in the way. A good rule of thumb with this movie is that the scenes that involve Chappie are good and everything else is nonsense.<\/p>\n
Two Stars out of Five.<\/p>\n
\u201cChappie\u201d is rated R for violence, language and brief nudity. Its running time is 120 minutes.<\/p>\n