Rated R
Starring Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver
Written and Directed by Neil Blomkamp
The Story:
Deon Wilson (Patel) takes a destroyed peace-keeping robot and imbues it with personality. Enter Chappie (Copley) who is like a child and has to be taught everything. The problem, he's taught some bad things by some questionable people. But in that machine somewhere is some heart, which is more than can be said for contractor Vincent Moore (Jackman) who wants to take his version of the the robot peacekeeper to the streets, no matter the cost.
Seriously.
I swear, the title of my review had to be Blomkamp's pitch to the studios.
Or at least some hybrid Robocop/Short Circuit mashup.
If you don't see similarities, it's because you haven't seen either of the other movies.
Both of which were made in the 80s, and made way better, both in terms of acting, directing, writing, and very likely, special effects.
This is another 2 hour (2 HOUR!) Blomkamp snoozer that is long on boredom and short on everything else.
When I stack this with Elysium which I was generous with my C- review, and the never-reviewed because I fell asleep trying to watch District 9...
Well, I have no faith in him as a writer or director anymore.
So the next time I see his name on a project, I will likely leave it out of, or put at the bottom of my queue to be watched when I've seen everything else ever made.
By the time the movie even got remotely exciting, it was the last part of the movie as Jackman was firing up his E.D. 209
I kid you not.
Way too little, much too late. And embarrassingly derivative.
If he was hoping to match the charming success of Real Steel, he misjudged badly.
Final Grade: D+
