Chappie (Neil Blomkamp)

CiDeRmAn

Just out of the cinema now, loved the film.
Not as earth shattering as D9 but it was a great night out and had lots to love.
Complaints about violence and gore in the last act were unfair, particularly given how violent the last act of D9.
I think we're seeing a lot of people seeking to set the agenda by appearing to be in the know before everyone else.
Anyway, great film, hope lots go and see it.
Probably won't though

pinksoir

Got back from this now.

I'll just leave this here: http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/like-short-circuit-for-knuckleheads-chappie-reviewed-1689813531

Outkast_IRE

So went to the late show of this last night.

If i was to describe it to someone quickly i would say its like the South African lovechild of Robocop and Short circuit.

Its an enjoyable movie but isnt anything groundbreaking, i think if you are looking for something to go out and enjoy and not have to think too much its perfect. I think the reviews that are giving it 3.5/5 are pretty spot on, there is alot to enjoy here.
It doesnt do any particular thing brilliantly but it does everything well.

Postivies :
Some great cinematography & locations
Great visual effects
Some very funny moments
Some great action

Negatives:
Story could of done with a little bit of tidying up, half way through i thought it was going to concentrate on the AI and self awareness & how we will treat such creations, then it turned into big action movie.

Some of Jackmans dialogue was hard to understand, to me it was a sound editing problem as his voice was just a bit too low in comparison to the surrounding noise.

Overall glad i went to see it in the cinema, if you have fond memories of Robocop or Short Circuit you will enjoy it, if you liked the directors previous work you will enjoy it. Great fri/sat night movie, leave the thinking cap at home though.

CiDeRmAn

pinksoir wrote: »

Got back from this now.

I'll just leave this here: http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/like-short-circuit-for-knuckleheads-chappie-reviewed-1689813531

I just don't agree with that assessment at all.
Criticisms of the nature of the AI is simply that it doesn't meet with some subjective notion of what it might be like when it happens and, honestly, who knows and what makes the reviewers idea on this any better than the writers or viewers?
What it does do is make for an enjoyable picture, not every AI has to become HAL or Skynet, we forget that there is a fairytale element to the film, as referenced by Blowkamps wife, who co scripted.
I'm not going to waste everyone's time by contradicting each and every point that linked reviewer made, but they are almost all quite weak, given how much people loved about D9 is used here to good effect, and yet have become offensive somehow.
I just don't know what people were expecting, the movie was clearly telegraphed in the trailers.

Mickeroo

Thought it was very enjoyable myself, not as good as D9 but a whole lot better than Elysium. Visuals were great and it felt like Blomkamp was actually invested in the film, unlike Elysium which very much felt like he was going through the motions to me.

Outkast_IRE

Topped the US box office, it had a reported budget of $50 million , it has already made back 26 million, and its very funny actually on IMDB the news article earlier in the day it said "Chappie Bombs" a few hours later when the figures come in they changed it to "Chappie Stumbles".

To my knowledge it still hasnt opened in China yet, where sci-fi tends to make a bomb of money.

You can rest assured Chappie will be very profitable for Sony, and if anything the relatively low budget vs high return will reinforce their decision for him to helm the next Alien movie.


When you consider the quality of what was made here for 50 million in comparison to Jupiter Ascending for nearly 180 million its astounding

pinksoir

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I just don't agree with that assessment at all.
Criticisms of the nature of the AI is simply that it doesn't meet with some subjective notion of what it might be like when it happens and, honestly, who knows and what makes the reviewers idea on this any better than the writers or viewers?
What it does do is make for an enjoyable picture, not every AI has to become HAL or Skynet, we forget that there is a fairytale element to the film, as referenced by Blowkamps wife, who co scripted.
I'm not going to waste everyone's time by contradicting each and every point that linked reviewer made, but they are almost all quite weak, given how much people loved about D9 is used here to good effect, and yet have become offensive somehow.
I just don't know what people were expecting, the movie was clearly telegraphed in the trailers.

I don't agree with everything he says in the review but there were a few things that were spot on about the film.

It did seem like a 2 hour advert for Die Antwoord. Seriously, wearing T-shirts with their faces on and Die Antwoord written on them? While Die Antwoord plays in the background? Bizarre. Also, building a movie around a musi group who can't really act is a strange move. They were pretty much the main human element to the film. Chappie himself was pretty ridiculous. He had a voice that was a combination of Johnny 5, a Dalek, and... I dunno what. Great special effects though, totally bought Chappie. Great heft to ED-209 too. I do love the South African setting too.

I loved D9 and liked Elysium. I just don't think Blomkamp is the best writer. But he sure has a great eye. I felt that this was a bit of a missed opportunity. Great premise but clunky dialogue, bad acting, and some ridiculous scenes such as Chappie being comforted in bed by Yolandi. I also felt that Chappie himself was 60-70% irritating. I'm looking forward to his next effort though, whether it be Aliens or anything else.

Zombienosh

Genuinely don't understand the hate for this movie. Seems like some sort of trendy bandwagon to give over the top negative reviews, After seeing the trailer and being familiar with District 9 and Elysium I knew exactly what to expect and the film delivered exactly that, if not more.

I was expecting Short Circuit meets Robocop with shades of District 9 and that's exactly what it is.

I personally think it was one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

The scene

where Chappie gets beaten up made me relive the trauma of being a kid watching Short Circuit and crying my eyes out when they beat him up.

Greenmachine

I actually really enjoyed this. Without spoiling this for anyone, it darker than I expected, and, I felt the trailer gave a completely different impression of the overall story, to that which unfolded. Not a kids movie, and justifiably received a 15a cert in the cinema. Only mentioning this as a lady took 4 kids in with her to the screening I was at, no older than 8 years old.

FutureGuy

Thought it was fantastic. 8.5 easily.

Mitch Connor

found it dull.

Thought Jackmans character was irritating, carrying two guns on a gun belt around the office...

Thought the Weapons facotry/office was ridiculous too - so little security or oversight. I hope places like that aren't the same in real life...

Also, I disliked Chappie itself for the most part too - mainly cause it learned its mannerisms from the trio of 'gangstas' so became an annoying tool itself.

Much like District 9, and Ellysium. A strong opening, a well crafted world that became a poorly fleshed out and executed final act. MEH.

FunLover18

It was all right but I think there was too much going on. Jackman was hilarious but I can't see much point to his character beyond having an excuse for the final showdown (the riot was forgotten about fairly quickly). I've heard his character's religiousness being talked up in a few interviews but if not for that I mightn't have realised he was religious at all. There's a better film in there some where. Also as pointed out above for a weapons manufacturer their security truly is awful.

Fysh

I enjoyed it and the various nods to other similar films, but I can only conclude that it's not meant to be taken seriously - between the limited acting abilities of Die Antwoord and the dialogue (which was great when trying to be funny, leaden otherwise), I assume it's not trying for the same tone as D9 despite having similarities.

Favourite line for me was

*having just been carjacked by Chappie* "I swear I haven't been drinking, officer!" "Why did you steal daddy's car? Did you to it to subsidise your alcohol problem?"

Frank Bullitt

Saw it last night, really enjoyed it and reminded me of films from my youth.

Some bogey acting from that Die Antwoord pair though, dire.

TerrorFirmer

Thought it was good, certainly a better effort than Elysium - despite it's faults you definitely get a sense of Chappie being far more Blomkamp's labour of love rather than just pandering to a studios expectations.

Biggest gripe would be the under-use of Jackman and Weaver, particularly the latter. It also was incredibly far fetched, I've seen farmers sheds better secured than this world-leading weapons development facility. Certain core characters are fairly well developed, but unfortunately at the expense of almost every other character as well as the depth of the plot and the world it's based in.

I think the way is which the film is advertised is convincing parents that it's a film for the whole family despite it's adult rating - in the screening I was in, there were several children that were clearly not more than 10 years of age.

I also have to say I liked Yolandi and Ninja's performance, admittedly not brilliant in the most conventional sense (Ninja being the superior of the two) yet somehow it managed to compliment the tone of the film nicely all the same.

Blomkamp's obviously a big fan of Robocop 2 in particular as he basically nicked the end scene from that movie and recyled it here. I'm not sure if I see it as a strong nod of recognition, or blatant rip-off, but it's good fun all the same.

All in all though, good film and a great popcorn flick. I would give it a 7/10 though really I was surprised that Blomkamp couldn't have made this one on-par with D9 given the very glaringly obvious shortfalls in the film.

constitutionus

i thought it was brilliant.

8/10 from me.

liked the structure too. basically action fest bookending the film with the character stuff in the middle. shartlo's mannerisms as chappie were wonderfully done IMO . i really did get the sense at times you were dealing with an over excited kid which you then got to watch it evolve into its own "man" for want of a better term.

and it went in directions toward the end that i didnt see coming at all .

the marketing of this thing is a complete disaster though IMO .its NOT a kids film at all. many have referred to its as a cross between short circuit and robocop, and it IS, but lt leans well more toward the robocop side of things and any adults going in with kids should be told this. i reckon its not suitable for anyone less than a tweeny as theres some fair brutal scenes in it.

all in all though i got what i expected, had a laugh in places, felt sad/sorry for chappie when i was supposed to, and got a great rollicking action peice in at the same time. it even LOOKS beautiful in places.

cant complain about that.



so unlike jupiter ascending i have no problem recommending this one to the lads

Chris_Heilong

It was a very good film, I think most of the critics were expecting something completely different and were appointed it didnt go where they wanted it too. Die antwood were not nearly as annoying as I was worried they might be and it didnt feel like an advert for the band.

My only issue with the film was the last 10 minutes which IMO made things a little stupid.

Arkaron

I can’t say I liked it… I thought the writing was very weak, especially when it came to the consistency of Blomkamp’s diegesis. For scientists, the two characters played by Patel and Jackman keep making stupid decisions, and the world that we see is waaay too illogical to be believable to me. So basically, the guy responsible for making billions has a profile page with detailed information on the company’s website, drives a van easily recognisable, and is working in the same office as his direct competitor… Right. The film keeps hammering that this is happening in Johannesburg, and that characters should watch their backs at every turn, but everything feels much too easy and convenient. Another example: someone can steal a USB drive that’s basically the Holy Grail by opening 2 doors and swiping a badge. No guards, no cameras, no nothing. And then it’s also entirely possible to control an immensely destructive robot (a prototype, at that) while completely alone, with no supervisors or observers whatsoever. For a first-class weapons manufacturer, the security is ridiculously non-existent, and the whole structure of the film suffers from that.

Furthermore, the Die Antwoord gang is unbearably bad at acting and conveys a very questionable image of the people left behind by the South African society. The big baddie is an ultra-religious zealot from the army that’d pass Avatar’s Quaritch for an example in subtlety, and the evil gangsta looks like they dug him out of an 80s exploitation flick. The film is unmistakably the brainchild of Blomkamp, who once again seems afraid to offer the viewer any chance at pondering about the stakes presented in his story. As a result, everything is so obvious and over-explained that it becomes tiresome… The visuals are nice and the direction does the job, but that’s really thin.

On the AI front, I thought Ex_Machina was miles better.

e_e

Enjoyed it more than I expected and it's definitely superior to Elysium but whoa the film is such a mess in terms of tone and pacing. It's like somebody took a sweary R Rated action movie, a rap video and a kids film about a cute robot and then stitched them together haphazardly. Many parts of the film kept me entertained (mostly the stuff about Chappie learning about the world) but I don't blame anyone for finding it really grating.

Warper

Blomkamp is M Night Shyalaman in disguise - his films get progressively worse

Warper

Warper wrote: »

Blomkamp is M Night Shyalaman in disguise - his films get progressively worse

Both directs share the same problem, they are damn good visualists and know how to shoot a scene but should only work off of other peoples scripts.

we'llallhavetea

thought yer one from die antwoords acting was so bad that it pissed me off, just dont know why the hell they didn't use actual actors for this? her voice alone grated on me.
visually really striking, i could see a chappie existing no bother. it was a fairly grim movie for me and i found it a bit depressing the way chappie was treated
thought it could have been a great movie if the storyline was completely different :P maybe if it was more about chappie and his maker after they both downloaded their consciousness to robots? i dunno, the cinema was baltic and that pissed me off too. might give it another go at home.

Unearthly

If there was ever an example not to trust critics then it's this film. I loved it.

ok so it is not original by any means but it strikes all the chords for a good entertaining funny, emotional and action packed film

Dep!

Id agree with the above. I wasnt expecting much after the reviews and the director's less than stellar last film but this was a good solid watch with a thought provoking last act.

Duggy747

An entertaining film with plenty of laughs but with a good few pitfalls and some real dodgy dialogue.

The Die Antwood duo were OK but I just kept thinking "This is Die Antwood" considering their music and promo material all over their warehouse was getting too heavy handed.

Overall it was good but I kept thinking of District 9 and Elysium with it's grungy Sarf Africa setting. This should be end of that style as it's getting too similar and with the same characters. (If Alien 5 works out for him)

marklazarcovic

never heard of Die Antwood just wanted to see the movie,didnt know what i was watching for a bit,but it grew on me and in the end i loved it,what a character.

brianregan09

Watched it today absolutely loved can't believe i missed it in the cinema over a couple of bad reviews never again

Outkast_IRE

brianregan09 wrote: »

Watched it today absolutely loved can't believe i missed it in the cinema over a couple of bad reviews never again

Yeah the reviews almost put me off going to see it in the cinema, but i noticed that the actual people who watched it really enjoyed it but the critics seemed to have it in for it.

Was glad i seen it in the cinema in the end.

MrStuffins

I let the negative reviews stop me from seeing this in the cinema. A mistake. I really liked it.

Wasn't mad about the last 20 minutes or so but the Chappie character was great. I really felt for him when he said

They threw fire even though I said please

I was actually almost crying.

There were major flaws. Hugh Jackman was miscast, the rap group were pretty bad and having had no feelings about him whatsoever before I saw this movie, Dev Patel has now gone into the "How is this guy a professional actor?" category. He was shockingly bad. Plenty of smell the fart acting. Everything he said or did was just so over the top. It was annoying!

joseph brand

Unearthly wrote: »

If there was ever an example not to trust critics then it's this film. I loved it.

+1

Immediately after watching this film, I went to IMDB, where it has respectable 7.1, though I rate it higher. But upon seeing the 3/10 on rotten tomatoes, I had to see what was up with the critics. Are they huffing glue? I can understand such bad reviews for Adam Sandler's offerings in the 'I don't care any more just give me money' category. But not this!

Just like D9, the effects are incredible. Chappie 'himself' was unpredictable and entertaining. This wasn't 'by the numbers', as is the case with many Hollywood films (Guardians of The Galaxy). There were genuinely funny moments betwixt the violence and tension.

The end of the film blew me away a little.


7.5/10

D'Agger

Saw this last weekend and to be honest, would be open to watching it this weekend too. I can understand some criticism of this film but the over the top bashing it's gotten from some is a bit nuts I think.

Good story, great soundtrack, it had pitfalls but it was an original movie that could have gone any way rather than being incredibly predictable - I wasn't overly happy with the ending but the movie & the concept was enjoyable enough for me not to mind too much.

On Die Antwood - I didn't notice that there was tons of their memorabilia around their den but their characters were musicians who failed & turned to crime instead - I can see why they'd just use Die Antwoods stuff, it ties in.

Overall it's a 7/10, no more, no less. Very happy to have seen it, would recommend watching it and certainly wouldn't paint it with the label 'avoid at all costs' like I saw over on the what have you watched recently thread.

bnt

Just saw this myself, finally, and I generally agree that some critics went overboard in their attacks on the film. I think it could have done more to investigate the blurring of the lines between human and robot, particularly considering the ending. There's some deep stuff going on that isn't spelled out explicitly in the film, and some of it went over people's heads.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I think Blomkamp did the right thing in not bothering with messy details of exactly how things such as transferring human minds in to robot bodies would work. As a wise man once said: any sufficiently-advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. In the short time Chappie has, he develops a rudimentary sort of spirituality about what has happened to him, and by the ending he's able to turn his dreams of reincarnation in to reality. He learns that human life is temporary, like his own, but then he's able to do something about that - a kind of wish-fulfilment for the viewer. He becomes a god, in effect, with the power to save and resurrect the minds of the people he's come to love, but only by transferring them in to robot bodies: he (re-)makes mankind in his own image, you might say! :cool:

Walter E GO

I found it a dreadful movie. Chappies accent just grated on me throughout.