Bot From The
Blue
Film: Chappie
Cast:
Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman
Duration: 2
hrs
Directed by:Neill Blomkamp
Rating: * *
* 1 / 2
Even since
he made that smashing debut with that apartheid-allegory film District 9, Neill
Blomkamp’s films have always evoked interest. It won’t be easy to make a follow
up as special as that 2009 venture, Elysium was not bad at all till it become a
typical Hollywood film in the latter half.
The thing
about Blomkamp is that he always throws interesting ideas. Even though Chappie
has a very Robocop like base to its story (with a bit of Transcendence thrown
in), yet when I walked out of the theatre after two hours, there was a feeling
of satisfaction.
Set in Johannesburg
(Blomkamp is South African) in a futuristic day and age, the streets of the city
are manned by droids. Crime rate is down, the authorities are happy and so is
the company manufacturing these robots, headed by Michelle (Sigourney Weaver). A geek Deon (Dev Patel) is the creator of
these robots but like any corporation, they are pushing for bigger and better.
He is working on a program that will allow the droids to ‘think’ and infuse
some artificial intelligence, his rival (Hugh Jackman) meanwhile has invested a
lot of time in developing Moose, a remote controlled robot.
Deon experiments
with his new program and Chappie (Sharlto Copley) is born, he lands up in the
hands of couple of hoodlums (Yolandi Visser and Ninja of the South Africa rap
group Die Antworod) who try and use him for their own gains. While Chappie’s
basic instincts are not to indulge in violence as he is told by his ‘maker’ he
develops his own thoughts and acts as per his volition.
Consciousness
in machines was something that was recently touched up by Wally Pfister in Transcendence
but with limited effect, it works better here. For most parts, it is a fun
film, Chappie as a character gets more fascinating as it progresses.
Sure there
are some lazy bits in the middle portion but in the end, the climax redeems it
all. At times the direction also looks casual in some scenes but on the whole,
Blomkamps vision is admirable. He is set to direct the next installment of the
Alien franchise and that would be something to look forward to. But meanwhile,
let’s enjoy Chappie.
Published in The Navhind Times, Goa on 15th March 2015
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