WASHINGTON — It’s been six years since director Neill Blomkamp broke through with “District 9” (2009), turning a modest $30 million budget into an underdog Best Picture nomination.
His next sci-fi project, “Elysium” (2013), cost four times as much — and was only about a fourth as good. The $115 million blockbuster earned mixed reviews, leaving us scratching our heads.
Still, there was hope that Blomkamp’s next effort, operating with a $49 million budget and an interesting premise, would mean a return to form. Instead, we get a continued skid for Blomkamp.
Like his previous efforts, “Chappie” is set in futuristic Johannesburg, South Africa. A robot police force patrols the streets, the brainchild of computer whiz Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), who clashes with ice-cold boss Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver) and crival designer Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman), who’s trying to get his own robot creation — The Moose — off the ground.
After the success of the police droids, Deon’s true dream comes true when he is able to give actual consciousness to a robot named Chappie, who has enormous potential but must be educated like a human child. Before Deon can teach him properly, Chappie is whisked off by a band of thugs, who teach him the gangster life, grooming him to shoot, stab and steal en route to their biggest heist yet.
There’s a good movie to be made from these sci-fi concepts, but “Chappie” isn’t it.
The film is a flawed machine, looking sleek on the outside but filled with faulty wiring.
The root of the problem is a basic marketing misconception. The charming title — and the above trailer — lead us to believe that “Chappie” will be a family-friendly romp, like “E.T” (1982), “Short Circuit” (1986) or “WALL-E” (2008).
But while those central characters had adorable lines like “E.T. phone home” and “Johnny Five is alive,” Chappie’s signature line is “f*ck mother.”
I kid you not. Parents, keep the kiddies away.
There’s a jarring disconnect between the fun-loving tone we’re advertised and the violent tone we receive. This is expected if we’re going to see “GoodFellas” (1990), “Pulp Fiction” (1994) or “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013), but it feels bizarrely out of place for this robot. We’re left in limbo watching a cute robot in a very cruel world.
Marketing aside, the execution isn’t much better.
The visual-effects wizards deserve credit for turning Chappie into a believable life force. We absolutely buy into his childlike innocence, with much credit belonging to Sharlto Copley, who voices the bot. Unfortunately, the human characters aren’t all that human. The gangsters who groom Chappie become ridiculous caricatures of themselves, so much that we never take them seriously. As a result, we never quite feel the necessary danger or sorrow during the slow-mo action sequences.
These thinly drawn gangsters occupy most of the screen time, annoying us more than enthralling us. You’ll leave the theater wondering why we didn’t see more of the leading trio, especially since all three have effectively covered such ground before. You’ll remember, Patel clashed with similar slum lords in “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), Weaver donned a similar robot suit in “Aliens” (1986), and Jackman battled similar Sentinels in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014).
When Patel is on screen, he is given overly-sentimental dialogue reminding his robot that “you can do anything you put your mind to.” His insistence on Chappie learning to paint is a fine ideal, but it’s presented in a heavy-handed manner. So while the first act starts off promisingly, with doc-style interviews and a “playing God” allegory — we quickly realize the script could have used a rewrite.
By the time we’re halfway through, we sadly realize the emperor has no clothes. The plot points become increasingly illogical, as Blomkamp sets up a life-or-death situation with a ticking-clock climax, only for Chappie to take a detour to seek revenge on the villain rather than devote his time to a life-saving endeavor. There’s no way Chappie would waste this much valuable time.
And that’s just it — you’ll feel like you’re wasting your valuable time. It’s no coincidence that Chappie’s first word is “watch” — pointing at Patel’s wristwatch — because you’ll routinely stare at yours in the theater. It’s also no coincidence that Chappie thinks stabbing someone will “put them to sleep,” because that’s what you’ll want to do. And just as the movie transfers consciousness between robots, you’ll wish you could transfer your consciousness to another body in another theater.
“Chappie” raises legit concerns about how Blomkamp will handle the “Alien” franchise — reins that have been held by Ridley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher — but let’s not throw him into cinema’s junkyard just yet. There must be some magic left somewhere in that creative mind, but our patience is seriously waning. To put it in Chappie terms, this career was once a shiny new object, but the battery life is running out.
★ ★
The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where this film ranks in our Fraley Film Guide. Follow @JFrayWTOP. @WTOP and WTOP Entertainment on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
