By SETH HYNES
FROM Neil Blomkamp, director of District 9, ‘Chappie’ is another solid sci-fi film for the new year.
Decon (Dev Patel), a corporate inventor in Johannesburg, secretly creates a sentient robot named Chappie (Sharlto Copley).
Chappie is sweet and childlike, but is corrupted by a bunch of small-time gangsters.
With just his voice, Copley delivers an arresting performance as Chappie.
The robot is like a naive kid, led astray in a harsh world.
Your heart reaches out to him and his strutting behaviour is both amusing and sad.
Chappie’s gangster ‘family’, whom we follow through much of the film, are annoying and pretty reprehensible at first.
You’ll need a high tolerance for this kind of character, even with the redemptive arcs they undergo and Yolandi’s motherly care for Chappie.
Much of the suspense is generated from Chappie’s exploitation and the bright, evolving way he views the world, which makes up for the vague threat of his draining battery (and some underdeveloped ideas about consciousness).
The atmosphere is squalid but with tinges of magic, the energetic action is gloriously visceral and the supporting cast excels with their short screen-time; Patel is dedicated and fatherly as Deon, and Hugh Jackman is riveting as an unhinged, scheming rival engineer.
Balancing grit, dark laughs and insane action with a poignant, sensitive and unconventional character study, ‘Chappie’ will make you think twice about mistreating your electronics.
