Seeing Chappie in the Caribbean two days in advance is how sweet life is here. You guys need to move here. That aside, recall how Neil Blomkamp's District 9 traversed many themes with an emotionally staggering heft? From humor to love to action to of course, the heavy handed segregation (akin to Apartheid), South Africa was steeped in. After viewing Chappie, it feels like these stories are more intent statements documenting his personal dalliances in the past. Feels like he's talking more from personal experiences than anything else when Chappie speaks and it's in this tone of voice, most expressive to top his creativity, that Blomkamp finds himself unshackled from the Hollywood vibe and unfurling a sci-fi flag that is his best work to date.
Chappie is provocative as it touches on so many aspects - the grimy seedy underbelly of life mixed in with artificial intelligence. Blomkamp translates so many themes from religion to existentialism to transcendence so organically. With humor, drama and action. If you liked D9, this movie will blow you away. His take on segmentation in society remains so well done as he gives his spin on gang-life mixed in with the importance of parenthood. He quickly shows the nascent magic of life without dragging on. As Chappie finds himself sentient and away from pre-destined militarization, Blomkamp takes the viewer on a quest to understand the questions, taboo in the least, that many shun ins society - and he does so using his South African intuition which perfectly aligns with fans of the X-Men and the Nazi/Magneto stories. It's a scope that leaves you polarized in that you understand what's wrong with society but it's the blinders we often put up to avoid them. And in addressing these things, Chappie shines even amid minor flaws.
Parallels can be drawn in the sense that a robot finds himself out of place in a world that has different uses and moral intentions for technology, while dealing with a sense of purpose. Chappie finds himself hunted while absorbing the weight of the humans he encounters. Much credit to Die Antwoord for a spectacular performance on screen as well as for an eclectic musical atmosphere. They add so much essential character to a film that akin to D9, runs less on action and more on story. At present, I'm with Team Chappie as my Robot of the Year. Ultron has a lot of work to do! The pacing's spot on and there are subtle nods to geek culture as well as Blomkamp's stance on politicking. I like how he also doesn't place too much focus on his villain, in this case played by a very driven and non-derivative Hugh Jackman, and allows a straightforward tale of altriusm to prevail. Chappie is a moral compass struggling to find its true north and this makes him so relatable. The CGI could have been beefed up but when you take in the simple and minimalistic essence of the film, you appreciate that they didn't wanna go too preachy. It's a dirty, rough and unpolished gem.
I'm eager to hear the director's Aliens outline because he seems made for these indie-flicks and less of the studio bigwigs. Can he deliver that box-office golden ticket? I await his response. In answering my header, it's a fine return to form, as well as function. A highly captivating and resonating story that engages lovers of sci-fi, politics and so many more.
GRADE: A+