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Review: Chappie

One of the most heartwarming and bad-ass films to be shot in South Africa

Starring: Hugh Jackman and Die Antwoord

Plot: In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. But now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. As powerful, destructive forces start to see Chappie as a danger to mankind and order, they will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind.

Remarks: I was a bit nervous to watch this film because I wasn’t a fan on Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 or Elysium but I was so impressed. I’ve seen reviews online and they aren’t too favourable but I couldn’t disagree with them more. Sure, the film has it’s ups and downs but overall, the film captures your attention and keeps you interested for the full two hours. The story, while so farfetched to be in 2016, is really heartwarming. Firstly, I was really impressed with the casting for this film. I was really nervous to watch Die Antwoord on film but they really surprised me. Ninja was exceptional. His acting was superb and you really got so many emotions out of him. Yo-Landi struggled a bit but luckily she had either Chappie or Ninja to fall back on. The film used Johannesburg’s setting brilliantly and showed a realistic interpretation of the big city. Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver and local star Brandon Auret also impressed me in this film. Dev Patal, who plays Chappie’s maker, is absolutely fantastic and smashes his role as Deon.

Speaking of Brandon, the accent he is told to put on is terrible and really spoils his character in a sense for me. He buffed up, has this crazy hairstyle and I get the accent is supposed to make him more terrifying but it just failed miserably. Another accent I didn’t enjoy was Chappie’s. I’m not too sure where he got that stereotypical coloured accent from but it just doesn’t make sense to me. You really get a WTF feeling when this starts falling into place. Speaking of Chappie, the special effects are amazing and Neill really managed to make him relatable to the audience. The story is strong and the only thing I would have changed is the amount of times error messages appeared on the many experiments done in the film and sometimes, Neill showed South Africa off in a terrible light – far worse than in reality. That being said, I really enjoyed this movie and I suggest that you guys take the time out to go and watch it!

Rating: 4/5

Chappie releases on March 13th, 2015.

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