Movie Review: Chappie (2015) – Too Gory for Children, and Too Stupid for Adults,

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Artificial intelligence movies are popular, because we don’t know what would really happen. After all, the closest thing we have to artificial intelligence in the real world is Google, and most of us use it to look up fetish porn. But what happens when that artificial intelligence also has self awareness? Chappie tries, albeit poorly, to examine this.

To classify this movie, I’d call it one part Robocop and one part Short Circuit. The film is set in the dystopian future, where life is scary and crime is handled by a bunch of emotionless robots. When their creator, Deon, decides to take the next step and try to create a robot who can’t just fight criminals, but can think and asses them, Chappie is born. Then, a bunch of thugs get their hands on Chappie and decided to program him for nefarious methods.

I found the movie had a bit of demographic confusion going on, as though the creators couldn’t decide whether it was for adults or children. It feels like half a fairy tale and half an action movie.

1251623 - Chappie

1251623 - Chappie

Plot holes abound. The biggest one? A group of criminals, who like to steal things, have their hands on a million dollar robot and instead of selling it, they slap a bunch of gold chains on it and decide to just hang out. Our main character Deon also never thinks to tell anyone that Chappie has been stolen. I don’t know why. That’s never delved into. Any plot holes there are, they gloss right over.

The dialog was wooden, silly and sometimes just embarrassing. The motivations of the characters are completely unrealistic. I get that science fiction is far fetched, but you can’t gloss over basic plot holes like character motivation.

Come on, these people live in slums and they steal a million dollar robot. Why are they not selling it? It’s not like there’s no market for it. Another bad guy, Vincent, is tossed in there and I’m sure he’d be happy to part with a couple million for it.

This is the most confusing movie I’ve seen since Tank Girl. It’s too gory for children, and too stupid for adults, so who’s exactly supposed to watch it? Robots?

Chappie gives us a nonsensical plot. A scary robot that’s supposed to be sweet. A security company who apparently keeps all their high tech security in an unlocked barn. Silly dialog and characters that are far too stupid to be criminals. That’s really saying something. It’s poorly written, genre confused and aimed at a non-existent audience.

What’s really blowing my mind right now is that it’s sitting in the number 1 spot at the box office. Most of the time, I can predict what people will think of a movie, even if I know critics will hate it. In this one, I didn’t see Chappie coming. Maybe it was the utter lack of new releases? Maybe seating for Focus was sold out? Either way, this is not a movie that earned its spot at the box office.

When it comes right down to it, Chappie is nothing more than a pile of loud garbage.

We Gave it: 1 Star: Official Movie Trailer and Movie Poster Below

1 star

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One Comment

  1. I in reality welcome this kind of send. I’ve been looking all over used for this! Thank goodness I ran transversely it upon Bing. You get ended our day! Thx nonetheless again! All which is gold doesn’t glitter don’t feign each and every one those that wander are absorbed. by J. R. R. Tolkien.

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