Chappie

6th March 2015: 20:00 Bolton

A futuristic Jeremy Kyle show

I went into Chappie expecting a rip off of the classic (but not that good) Short Circuit.  Chappie is alive, so is Johnny 5!  I watched District 9 as part of my IMDB 250 film challenge, and recently endured through Elysium but I still had high hopes for Chappie.

Set in a very near future, Robots have joined the police force to tackle the increasing crime rate in South Africa and young developer (Dev Patel) is working on making the "Robocop's" fully AI. Wanting to test his new found programme he steals a rejected broken droid.  Unfortunately on his way home he himself is kidnapped by a gang of criminals who learn of his robot passenger.  Forcing him to input his new programme and create Chappie.

This is were the social aspect comes in, the new born Chappie needs to learn (similar to Johnny 5's input!), he is like a new born child, learning from his "parents".  The only thing is, his parents are criminals with no social skills, he is raised in a chavvy, Jeremy Kyle reject family.  Mummy wants the best for him, but is not strong enough to teach him right from wrong, and Daddy uses him to better his life of crime.  When Dev Patel returns to teach Chappie the better things in life, he has already taken a downward spiral, swearing, showing little respect and adopting the style of the gangsters he is living with.

Chappie has some great moments and he is really endearing to watch as he "grows", but as the main cast are a bunch of criminals who you don't really like and they are facing off against a gang that you like even less there is not much connection with the characters.  Don't even get me started on Hugh Jackman, who did not belong in this film, he was a constant distraction and I could never take someone serious in a management position who came to work in shorts and socks pulled up to the knees.

The CGI of Chappie is fantastic, I was convinced that he was real and Sharlto Copley voiced and acted him perfectly.  There are some very funny moments throughout the film

With Niell Blomkamp rumoured to be directing the next alien film in the franchise I am still a little apprehensive, Chappie was good ,but nowhere near the brilliance of District 9