Chappie

 

Chappie 2015

• Director: Neill Blomkamp
• Seen by this director: Elysium, District 9
• Based on a book: no
• Cast: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Yo-Landi Visser, Ninja, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Brandon Auret
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sharlto Copley (not that he was recognisable exactly) – Elysium, District 9
• Dev Patel - The Man Who Knew Infinity, Hotel Marigold 1&2, Slumdog Millionaire
• Hugh Jackman – The Greatest Showman, X-Men etc, Les Misérables, Australia, The Prestige, The Fountain, Kate and Leopold
• Sigourney Weaver – Avatar, Be Kind Rewind, Snow Cake, The Village, Holes, Galaxy Quest, A Map of the World, Alien etc, The Ice Storm, Death and the Maiden, Dave, Working Girl, Ghostbusters, The Year of Living Dangerously
• Brandon Auret – Elysium, District 9
• Why? Sci fi, good cast

Seen: 6 September 2020

             In Johannesburg, the world’s first robotic police force is established. Crime figures plummet. We follow the technical and economic developers (Weaver, Jackman and Patel) and a trio of young gangsters (Visser, Ninja and Cantillio) who are in desperate need of 20 million. They devise a scheme to kidnap Deon (Patel) and steal his remotes that control the droids.

       It doesn’t go exactly as planned. For one thing, Deon is secretly developing a super AI, far smarter than humans and with feelings. The gangsters get a hold of it and call it Chappie (Copley). But he’s just a baby mentally and he’s got to learn. He learns very, very quickly.

       That’s not Deon’s only problem. Villain Jackman is a violent and nasty and religious ex-soldier developing a super weapon monster robot.

       It gets quite exciting. And amusing. And sad. Chappie is adorable and Visser as his gangster ‘Mummy’ is a real treat.

       What a sweet film.

 

4 ½ * of 5