Comment on Review: The jumbled machinery of 'Chappie' never clicks

Review: The jumbled machinery of 'Chappie' never clicks

[...] though "Chappie" bears all the hallmarks of a "RoboCop" retread or a grungier "A.I." (or heaven help us, "Transcendence"), it's actually more like a warped, sci-fi version of "The Jungle Book" in which a child robot must survive the urban wilds of a gang-ridden Johannesburg. The movie's mismatched parts — which includes possibly the most unlikely co-starring combo of all time: the South African rap duo Die Antwoord and Hugh Jackman — fit together about as well as Johnnie Five, the "Short Circuit" bot, and a blender. "Chappie" is the third feature from Blomkamp, who broke through with the alien refugee thriller "District 9" and followed that up with "Elysium," a big-budget allegory in which the 1 percent live on an orbiting space station. [...] Blomkamp makes action-heavy sci-fi that's animated by political ideas and frustrated urgency more than most Hollywood science fiction combined. Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire") plays a wide-eyed, ambitious engineer named Deon whose droids have already become the front lines of Johannesburg's police force. A few cubicles down from him sits a rival engineer (Jackman), whose gargantuan, heavy artillery "Moose" machine has been outshined by Deon's more nimble, human-like "Scouts." The education of Chappie, born into gangsters, pulls in two directions: the caring tenderness of Yolandi and the tough love of Ninja, who wants him to help in a heist.

 

Comment On This Story

Welcome to Wopular!

Welcome to Wopular

Wopular is an online newspaper rack, giving you a summary view of the top headlines from the top news sites.

Senh Duong (Founder)
Wopular, MWB, RottenTomatoes

Subscribe to Wopular's RSS Fan Wopular on Facebook Follow Wopular on Twitter Follow Wopular on Google Plus

MoviesWithButter : Our Sister Site

More Movies News