I've seen Short Circuit many times before, and it's hard to deny that Chappie is extremely reminiscent of that film. The biggest difference between the two is that the people who end up in possession of Chappie are the most annoying human beings in South Africa. I know that Die Antwoord is a thing down there, but I swear their faux "gangsta" personalities are even more offensive than Fisher Stevens playing an Indian man. Every moment they were on screen, I was annoyed and wishing they would shut up. Then at the end, for some reason, they expect us to fear for their lives. I was anxious for them to die and stop ruining the movie. The funny thing is Hugh Jackman is also delivering a ridiculously over-the-top performance, but I didn't mind at all. It works coming from him, and he's supposed to be the villain anyways.
The sad truth is, there's a decent film at the heart of Chappie. The visual effects of the robot are amazing, and Sharlto Copley's motion capture and voice work are brilliant. He embodies the innocence of a robot with an infantile mind to perfection. I also thought Dev Patel worked well as the brains behind the robots, and his conflict with Chappie made sense and created the one effective emotional arc in the film. It's just too bad that Neill Blomkamp decided to build the story around his friends Yo-Landi and Ninja instead of simply concentrating on what would make for the best film. I want to like this movie more, and it has a number of elements that I did enjoy. But I will probably just go back to watch Short Circuit or Robocop to get all the same story beats in a better film, despite the fact that Chappie had potential to be on par with one of those movies.
The sad truth is, there's a decent film at the heart of Chappie. The visual effects of the robot are amazing, and Sharlto Copley's motion capture and voice work are brilliant. He embodies the innocence of a robot with an infantile mind to perfection. I also thought Dev Patel worked well as the brains behind the robots, and his conflict with Chappie made sense and created the one effective emotional arc in the film. It's just too bad that Neill Blomkamp decided to build the story around his friends Yo-Landi and Ninja instead of simply concentrating on what would make for the best film. I want to like this movie more, and it has a number of elements that I did enjoy. But I will probably just go back to watch Short Circuit or Robocop to get all the same story beats in a better film, despite the fact that Chappie had potential to be on par with one of those movies.