Review - Chappie

Following Neil Blomkamp's 2009 debut film District 9, his 2013 feature Elysium contrasted in a way that was somewhat disappointing in the way in which it was produced. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, it's just that it felt more like a Hollywood blockbuster, as oppose to the raw and edgy adventure that was District 9. I'm happy to say though that Chappie brings the best of both worlds together beautifully.

Set in near-future Johannesburg, where an iRobot-like system of AI law-enforcement patrols the streets. Crime is down to a record low and cop deaths have been reduced, yet robot-cop inventor Deon Wilson (Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire) sees more to his android army than just clean streets. 

Deon is working on something new, an artificial intelligence system that can not only think, but can feel emotion and create it's personality. The result of his prototype computer program and a set-to-be destroyed faulty police robot, is Chappie. 

With the body of a thick-skinned machine and the brain of a developing and highly

impressionable small child, Chappie and creator Deon are hijacked and taken to the derelict underbelly of Johannesburg. Here they are confronted by criminals Ninja and Yolandi, a pair of gang runaways played by electroclash duo Die Antwoord. 

Sharlto Copley once more plays a major part in the South African directors creation, voicing Chappie in a charming and delightfully humane fashion. You'll leave the cinema wanting a Chappie, and wanting to cuddle it like a baby until he falls asleep and starts calling you Mommy. 

As Deon attempts to nuture Chappie's infant brain slowly, Ninja sees the opportunity to turn him instead into his car-jacking ninja-star throwing sidekick. Chappie learns quickly and soon becomes a foreboding figure in the underground crime scene. 

Thrown into the mix too is Deon's co-worker Vincent Moore. Played by a mullet-laden Hugh Jackman, Moore sees Deon's successful police units as the reason behind his own crime-fighting invention, "The Moose" failing to find a willing customer. 

The story moves inevitably towards a gunfight between Moore in his Moose and Chappie and co. The fight scene serves a purpose as a conclusion to the film in a CGI-heavy encounter, bringing a somewhat easy end to Jackman and the human factions involvement. 

Blomkamp's third directional outing is an enjoyable and infectious journey that leaves you wanting more Chappie. It asks big questions concerning what's right and what's wrong with overly-developing AI technology yet it doesn't necessarily answer these questions, rather it leaves it to us to ponder.