Neill Blomkamp's "Chappie"

Kinda reminds me of the guy from this book:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_(novel)

Man, the first time I saw the female rapper (Ninja something?), I seriously thought she was a kid or something (like one of those wiz kids who are smart for their age or something), but when I found out she was like in her late 20's I was like "0_0!"

Anybody think she has to show her ID or driver's license to prove her age?

New trailer! This one has more about Hugh Jackman's character.

oh god. Hugh Jackman's playing a jackass. wonderful.

It's nice seeing him acting a bit out of type. He Really Can Act when given the chance (see The Fountain. That movie's really underrated), and it seems he's heading for villains as of lately (as he's also playing a delightfully hammy Blackbeard in Pan).

This is so very anime.

Not really seeing it.

I can see Ghost In The Shell influences, but any Cyberpunk/Post Cyber Punk story with non-malevolent sapient AI could be an influence.

edited 19th Feb '15 3:16:44 PM by Ekuran

I don't see how it's any more "anime" than any of Blomkamp's other works.

20 percent on RT. What the fuck.

Out of 7 reviews. So far.

Usually dips lower after more show up.

None of the reviews say that it's awful, mostly that it's been done before. That sounds more like 50-60% bad, not 20% soul destroying bad.

EDIT: It's gone up to 40%.

edited 5th Mar '15 12:27:42 PM by Tuckerscreator

The reviews are giving off a sense of So Okay, It's Average with some Critical Dissonance .

edited 5th Mar '15 4:26:51 PM by AngelicBraeburn

And now it's 33% on RT and 42 on Metacritic. It seems like Neill Blomkamp might've wasted interesting ideas in tackling the idea of a sentient robot. Also, I like Die Antwoord, but I'm not really sure what Blomkamp was thinking bringing those two in given that both are supposed to be satirical caricatures of the South African zef subculture.

I gotta say, I love D9 and (to a lesser extent) Elysium. However, what I heard about this movie is really letting me down. I hope Blomkamp's Alien film doesn't tank either or we might see the second coming of M. Night...

Jeremy Jahns shares his thoughts on the matter.

edited 5th Mar '15 8:00:37 PM by sanfranman91

I guess I'm the odd duck out, because I absolutely loved it. There are some oddities, such as how did these police robots come into mass production within less than 2 years from now, (the movie takes place in late 2016!), or just what the hell made Moore think he'd fare better advertising the MOOSE as a riot control / SWAT mech, rather than an outright military weapon. But otherwise the movie was just excellent. Too bad they didn't explore what the world reaction would be like to both Deon and Chappie going public about their successful brain transfer into a cybernetic body... the implications and reactions from the world abroad would be ripe sequel material.

So okay it's average sums it up pretty well for me. I mean, the performances are alright, the special effects are good but not outstandingly so, the script is decent, there are a few laughs, the action is pretty good but nowhere near the likes of (recent example) Kingsman. It's just... alright. Compare it to Ex Machina, which ALSO raised questions about artificial intelligence and if a robot can be 'alive' and it comes off second best in just about every way.

Mor liek 'Crappie' m i rite?

I've been calling it "Chap Pie" but I don't know what that means

I loved it! Concept was great, seeing an AI that genuinely had emotions was great, the twist with Dion's and later Yolanda's consciousness being uploaded was great. It had fantastic action and packed an emotional punch.

Well, my friend loved it. I have to go with the critics on this one though, this movie was pretty damn bad, especially the second half, where indeed all of the interesting questions about AI were squandered. Perhaps it's simply a topic that interests me, so any sort of half-assed populist approach does not work for me. The AI was cartoonish, some of the humor of it learning from gangsters worked, but I would have appreciated the humor if the second half was not pure sentimentalist crap with a huge philosophical problem being channeled into applied phlebotinum to have a happy ending.

It looks like Blomkamp has one good movie in him, sadly.

I have mixed feelings about this film. It's strong where I expect Blomkamp to be strong: art design, worldbuilding and astonishingly good CG - Chappie himself is a marvel. The script was unfortunately mediocre (completely ridiculous by the end) and the inclusion of Die Antwoord was an absolutely terrible idea. There was also a distinct lack of the pitch-black comedic violence in his other films.

OMG this film.

You slut! Don't steal daddy's car!

Oh, oh, my sides...

Finished it, beg to differ, this film was very satisfying to watch. Ex Machina was chilling and moderately realistic, a vaguely decent take on AI.

Chappie was glorious. It was alive. Not just the robot, but the film. There's a seething passion to everything that's going on, a high tension. I don't think it was average, I think it was very memorable. For one thing, it made me genuinely care about the characters, in a way few stories have in a very long while. Chappie's earnestness and passion are especially compelling, and they aren't quite like any robot-that-wants-to-be-a-real-boy example yet. He kind of reminds me of Steven Universe, in a way.

He's nothing if not humble, at the very least. There's a lot of respect in that.

It's interesting to see how candid Blomkamp is about the making of and reception to his films. Most directors, when a project bombs, either stay quiet and hope the public forgets it, or if they have enough power can go on open rants about how nobody got it. Blomkamp reacts with hurt rather than anger, and as with his prior remarks about Elysium, seems committed to finding out what he could've done better.

edited 8th Jun '17 3:23:46 PM by Tuckerscreator