★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
From director Neill Blomkamp – gearing up to direct the next instalment in the Alien franchise – comes Chappie, a tale of a damaged police robot reprogrammed by his designer (Dev Patel) to have genuine consciousness. But before he can be shared with humanity, Chappie (Sharlto Copley) is taken in by a group of gangsters hoping to exploit him against rival groups and the police: spray-painted and sheathed in bling, the oblivious android tries to learn what it means to be human, for good or ill.
Considering how let-down some felt by Blomkamp’s most recent
effort Elysium (given the remarkable District 9) there’s some irony when we
consider that all his films are about making good on promises: be it
Christopher Johnson’s oath to return for Wikus or Max’s childhood pact to reach
Elysium one day, these stories are about strangers in turbulent worlds brought
together by fate or chance, and sealing the bond through promises. With Chappie, the oath is – despite our
robotic protagonist – more human than ever: a vow to use extraordinary strength
and intelligence for good. Chappie
shares a little more DNA with District 9
than Elysium: the setting is much
closer to the present day and we’re back in the chaotic streets of
Johannesburg.
Sitting at the centre of the film is Sharlto Copley as the
eponymous robot. Tentative like an infant at first, our metal-plated miracle
becomes entranced by the world in all its forms, from crude graffiti on the
walls of the gangster den he calls home or the affections of his ‘mommy and daddy’
(Yolandi and Ninja of South African rap group Die Antwoord filling the
respective roles). It may just be that human characters of recent months have
been so flat and uninteresting, but I found Chappie to be a truly
well-developed and occasionally heart-rending character that made me well up
almost as much as laugh. Copley reprises the accident-prone vocal inflections
of District 9’s Wikus here, and it
works a treat when the hapless hero is found pulling passengers through their
windscreens after his ‘daddy’ convinces him he’s doing a good thing: “You are
very bad; you mustn’t steal daddy’s things!”
A lot of critics have found the use of rappers as the
central gang grating and unlikeable, but I think that’s rather the point.
Asides from anything else, let’s be honest here; if you need gangster
characters, why not just hire gangster rappers? Dev Patel as the robotics
genius redeems himself for his embarrassing turn in Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Hugh Jackman finally gets a
chance to use his real accent. Taking his orders from a barking Sigourney
Weaver, we’re gifted a God-fearing, mullet-sporting loon determined to destroy
Chappie with the help of The Moose, a robot resembling ED-209 by way of
Christian Bales’ Batmobile.
Said contraption gives way to several of the Blomkamp-isms
we’ve come to expect (dismemberment, punchy action sequences and indulgent use
of slow-motion), built on a thumping, warbling musical foundation courtesy of
Hans Zimmer. Sadly bombast is where one feels the cracks appearing: though I
fail to see why so many have taken against the film quite so vehemently
(seriously guys, does ‘Fifty Shades of
Grey’ really warrant better reviews than this?), there is certainly room
for improvement. The whole piece is ill-disciplined and erratic, and the final
ten minutes are packed with so much content that most of the barmy ideas barely
have a chance to register before the thudding tones of Die Antwoord signal the
end credits.
But I’m not going to give Chappie grief for its ending, because it dares to do something
different, and dishes out enough madcap concepts to fill a whole other film.
Critics lately seem too quick to stamp out anything witty and intelligent
enough when it’s packed into something that is guaranteed to entertain the
masses: you lot can keep your Under the
Skins and your Hers, I’m sticking
with this. It’s Pinocchio for a new
generation and certainly made me a very
happy Chappie.
