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[Fixed2BeBroken]

And the ending sucked, you know, because of the implication.

Spoiler

That Ninja would also get his consciousness backed up and he was just as bad as the other big bad guy.

That's hilarious because I felt the same way where I was like ...

Spoiler

man, it really sucks that Ninja will live on because of this...fuck that guy

So I saw the movie, And I actually enjoyed it. With that said, I can see why some people might be put off by it...I honestly think this would have been better served if it was a Mini series where they could flesh it out more (But obviously they wouldn't have had the same budget) being that they couldn't really flesh things out that needed to be fleshed out to make it better.

Theres so many things you can nitpick about this movie if you really want to nitpick, but if you are ok with just letting things go, its enjoyable.

I think someone in this thread or another stated

Spoiler

that deon should have died before Chappie was made and all problems would have been solved. But I disagree as Vincent would have still been able to locate the gaurd chip and do what he did either way, the difference being his plan might not have been stopped whereas it was with Chappie's existence.

anyways, Overall, I liked it. Fun film. Yea, you can nitpick alot about it and point out alot of little plot holes, but fuck, lighten up!

Haven't seen the movie, but it just seems like relegating Hugh Jackman to playing the asshole military bad guy from District 9 is a tremendous waste of his talents.

well, when you see this film, read the rest of this sentence but,

Spoiler

I disagree cause he played the role well enough and it was just SO SATISFYING when Chappie kicked his ass

 

[hoola]

Just got back. I loved everything about it from the acting and visuals to the music and story. A bit better than District 9 in my opinion, and much better than Elysium. One of my favorite movies ever. And its awesome how unique it is. I've never seen a movie that put off the same vibe as Chappie, except maybe District 9 did a little bit.

 

[jett]

I don't think Ninja was meant to be likable or even someone you "care" about, even at the end. Ninja isn't any worse than the other hardcore gangsters shown in the film, in fact he's just a loser who wants to be more like those who have more power than he does. He sees Chappie as a means to an end, and he's an insecure tough guy who cares about Yolandi but doesn't want to show any signs of "weakness" at all.

Spoiler

In the end I think the show made the right choice by robbing him of a chance to sacrifice himself to let the others escape because actually letting him die any sort of heroic death would be more than his character deserves, and it turns the dynamic on it's head by showing that Yolandi cares just as much about him and she wasn't going to let him die to feel better about himself. It's not meant to be satisfying, but it is consistent with the environment of the story. The audience is supposed to be sad for Yolandi, and sad for Chappie, but not Ninja. He survives because there was someone who cared enough for him to die for him, even though he didn't deserve it.

I can see that...

Spoiler

But with the protracted slow-mo and Ninja asking to get killed over and over it seemed like that's what they were going for.

In any case he was grossly unlikable for much of the movie, not in a villain you enjoy hating kinda way. For me, anyway. In some parts he's "cool", Ninja's personality works for the movie, like when he's telling Chappie how to be cool and how to put people to sleep, but yeah...

 

[Danj]

Just got back. I loved everything about it from the acting and visuals to the music and story. A bit better than District 9 in my opinion, and much better than Elysium. One of my favorite movies ever. And its awesome how unique it is. I've never seen a movie that put off the same vibe as Chappie, except maybe District 9 did a little bit.

I also just got back from seeing this and I really enjoyed it too. It's disappointing that it's had a number of negative reviews which must have had an impact on its takings because it's a really good film, well worth watching.

 

[Zoe]

I just got back from this. I had nearly zero knowledge of it going in (I was expecting to see Short Circuit clips in the Drafthouse's pre-show, not Robocop), and I ended up really enjoying it. I think this is my favorite of his three.

That said, one thing that really annoyed me was they subbed the main gangster but didn't bother subbing anyone else! I had a harder time understanding Ninja and Chappie.

 

[adelante]

Movie was enjoyable if you went in with low expectations. Ending was shit though.
Why do people dislike Die Antwoord as a band though?

Fuckin yes. Cross posting from the review thread.

Saw this last night with my girl. It was decent....until it took a nosedive towards the end. Fuckin WOW. I probably have missed something but

Spoiler

Why didn't Chappie rush Deon to a hospital or something? Nevermind the whole bullshit about the extraction and transferring of human consciouness (and the fact that you could fit a human brain into a thumbdrive) but when Chappie kept on blabbering frantically about it AND Deon didn't seem to mind....i don't know. I felt that it would have been a much better ending had it been about an ethical dilemma...Deon protesting NOT to be transferred into a robot body and then struggling to grasp the reality once his conciousness has been transferred.

 

[pancakesandsex]

I really enjoyed this. Saw it tonight. Ending was a bit "lol movie computers" but I liked the ideas it brought up and whatnot. Reminds me of 80's and 90's anime sci fi ovas, but like, with a south african slant.

 

[Prologue]

I thought it missed some of the explosive flash from his earlier movies.

Anywho, I thought it was alright, not as bad as that RT score. I really think the movie would have been better without the two rock band gangster leads. I see their roles, but they just didn't do it for me. I would have enjoyed a more shorter film and a more focused interaction between Chappie and Dav.

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

Just got back from Chappie.

I enjoyed it, but did feel it drag in the middle when Chappie was still learning. Really the entire gang plot could probably have been traded for something more interesting. I thought it was the most interesting when they showed the scouts doing the raids.
And yeah, Ninja is a very hate-able character. Probably needed a better actor who could portray that the reason he's an asshole is that

Spoiler

he's desperate to pay back that gang leader and save his home and friends.

My biggest gripe with the movie is that Chappie talks too much, even in his learning stage.

Spoiler

The part where Ninja ditches him the middle of nowhere and gets beat up and molotov'd is completely robbed of any potential emotional impact by Chappie's incessant "no please don't I want to go home please don't I want to go home."

Honestly, Chappie is a bit too annoying to spend most of the movie following him learning wrong things.

I liked the ending

Spoiler

if only because the two good characters get sweet robot bodies.

 

[Rickelodeon]

Man, i really enjoyed this. Chappie himself, the star of the show, is amazing, seriously a fun and endearing performance from Copley. Like, i really loved him. I give the movie like a 7.4/10 but Chappie the character is like 11/10 and one of my favorite recent robot characters in movie next to like Baymax. I walked out of this movie wanting an action figure of him, Sony better have those for sale. It does slightly suffer from being a little unfocused, there are like 3 plotlines that could make good movies in their own right (A story about a childlike robot living with criminals, a story about police robots patrolling a crime-ridden Joburg, that suddenly get shut down and the resulting uprising that happens, and a story involving singularity) but what it does is still fairly unique and entertaining, even if the ending went in a different direction than i was expecting. Was never aware of Die Anterwoord before the movie but for the roles they were they were pretty good, even though Ninja was a DICK but he kinda grew on me by the end (also i looked up some of their songs when i got home and i'm enjoying this tbh Enter The Ninja is a good-ass song.) Some hilarious (FUCKMOTHER) moments and pretty emotional parts as well,

Spoiler

when they were bulling Chappie and in the van :c

. Overall, liked it. Way better than Elysium even if he still hasn't reached the heights D9 reached. Still I'm excited to see what Blomkamp does with Alien, he just needs another writer to help him out.

 

[Sagely]

Saw this yesterday with absolutely no prior knowledge of the film, other than it being Neill Blomkamp; so I was expecting cool robot designs covered in interesting decals.

I was thoroughly entertained. Had no idea Die Antwoord was going to be in the film so that was a pleasant surprise (I love the band); sexy mullets all over the place; incredible robot design and animation; and Chappie himself is just adorable with those ears. It was also refreshing to see Hugh Jackman (mild character spoilers)

Spoiler

play the villain

and use his real accent. This film felt much more personal than Elysium, which I appreciated, and I laughed like an idiot several times.

My enjoyment of the film really was due to the fact that I love everything about Die Antwoord, from their wardrobes to their music and over-the-top personas (even Ninja). Their graffiti being all over the base was great and I've always been a fan of the gritty aesthetic that Blomkamp uses.

I know movie enjoyment boils down to the tastes of the individual in most cases, but I think this is especially true of Chappie. It's easy to pick apart the film and see that it has some problems, but honestly I don't care about that when I had such a good time with it. Definitely going to get it on Blu-ray!

 

[Toa TAK]

Going to see this today before class. Loved District 9, but I haven't seen Elysium.

 

[Zombine]

Well, now that I'm back I can give my quick review of the film:

Chappie is a peculiar movie because I think that Neill Blomkamp's had the right idea, but I can't help but feel like it was an extended Die Antwood video. The way that the film moved from point A to point B seemed incredibly forced, and the idea that Yolandi comes up with,

Spoiler

that they must be able to turn off all the robots with a remote because that's how all electronics work

was mind numbingly awful, and Ninja's character came off as self indulgent and incredibly disgusting and irredeemable. Quite a few people mentioned that Jackman's performance was lousy, but I think he played the transparent villain role well, he did the best he could with what he was given to him.

Sharlto Copley's performance as Chappie was the real highlight of the movie. The guy is so damn likable and I love what he did with the dialogue, and the way the character moved.

All in all, I was moderately disappointed by the film. I loved the last act the most, and I feel like that was when the film started to come together, but I still didn't buy the relationship between Chappie and Dev Patel, they didn't spend enough time on screen for the

Spoiler

death of Deon

to be meaningful in any sort of way.

It's worth a watch, but I doubt I'll see it again. I think a mod should change this thread's title to Die Antwood Movie (2015, Neill Blomkamp, Chappie, Hugh Jackman With A Mullet) It seems more fitting.

 

[Hazelhurst]

The

Spoiler

Chappie vs. Moose vs. Gansters

is one of the coolest Sci-fi action set pieces I've ever seen. This is worth the price of admission alone.

 

[zero shift]

Just saw it.

I don't understand the hate the film is getting. It isn't a masterpiece but it is very enjoyable.

My thoughts:

- Where the fuck are the black people? This film takes place in South Africa, yet it seemed like with the amount of black people on screen that this film was filmed in America.

- I didn't like the ending because

Spoiler

it seemed too happy. I feel that the best ending would have been for Chappie to upload Deon into another robot and have that be the end of it. Deon gave Chappie life and now Chappie gives Deon life.

- While Yolandi played her character very well, Ninja just couldn't do his character justice. You could tell that they were shooting for Ninja to be

Spoiler

a guy who doesn't want to be mean as he is but he is pressured that if he doesn't get the money, he and his partners are going to die.

However, Ninja was an amateur and couldn't pull it off.He just seemed like a completely mean asshole for the first two thirds of the film and he somewhat mellowed out during the last third.

- Hugh Jackman's character just felt very out of place in the film. I didn't really understand the purpose of having him as

Spoiler

the villain.

His character didn't seem needed other than

Spoiler

giving the authorities a reason to search and destroy Chappie.

- Like others have said, Chappie is a very likable character. It is so cute seeing him talk ghetto.

- Why were the guns spray painted bright colors? Is this a South African thing?

 

[zoukka]

Beyond the visual design and a few legit funny scenes this movie was a piece of shit 2/10 material. The story was disney movie levels of cheese and predictable while missing all the potentially interesting scifi plot angles.

I saw it in US and got to experience american audiences clapping after every other scene... Wtf.

 

[Aiustis]

I went and saw this movie; it was terrible.

Spoiler

So why was that company so not secure? Why did dude not retrieve that chip or whatever it was when he had opportunities. I'm not sure what kind of office one would be allowed to point a gun at someone's head and not be fired? And Hugh Jackman crazy cartoony villain was ridiculous

 

[BlueDogAnchorite]

I loved this movie. Hugh Jackman did a great job playing a villain.

 

[Darth Pinche]

I saw it last night with lowered expectations due to the review, but was pleasantly surprised. I liked that it was more of a personal story about Chappie, Yolandi etc and that they only hinted at the social ramifications of A.I. It kept the movie lighter and more fun, plus it allowed time to really bond with Chappie and his "family."

I did not notice it during, but as posted earlier by zero shift, there were very few black people in the film. Didn't Neill Blomkamp get some heat for how he portrayed blacks in District 9 ?

 

[Machine Messiah]

Fantastic movie! The only complaint I have is that there's two scenes early in the movie which are basically hardcore child abuse. They try to redeem one of the characters that's involved in that, and it doesn't work for me. I think they went too far; I've never felt that repulsed by a movie before.

Everything else was great though. The ending was perfect.

Spoiler

There was so much darkness throughout the movie that I felt like the ending HAD to be as happy as it ended up.

I thought the art style throughout the movie was really nice, and Chappie was a loveable character. I just wish Ninja didn't do that "horrible thing" at the beginning, because he just lost me for the rest of the movie after that.

I'd also say that I enjoyed this more than District 9, and I don't understand why the reviews are so harsh. It's like a dark Disney movie.

I did not notice it during, but as posted earlier by zero shift, there were very few black people in the film. Didn't Neill Blomkamp get some heat for how he portrayed blacks in District 9 ?

I never understood why people complained about District 9. The bandits are all Nigerian; they're going to be black. That's like saying "all the villains in that James Bond movie were white" when they're all supposed to be Russian.

 

[Dominator]

Really enjoyed it, watched it last night. I do believe this is the same universe as D9. I'm watching that right now and something stuck out to me in a scene:

Tetravaal!

 

[duckroll]

Both District 9 and Chappie are based on concepts Blomkamp and his wife came up with as short films before he started directing movies. The original concept for Chappie (and the name of the company) comes from his 2004 short Tetra Vaal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTnxP7e7-YA

So yeah, I think it's a loose sort of "universe" they've been playing around with for years.

 

[AwShucks]

- I didn't like the ending because

Spoiler

it seemed too happy. I feel that the best ending would have been for Chappie to upload Deon into another robot and have that be the end of it. Deon gave Chappie life and now Chappie gives Deon life.

That's basically what I was hoping for with the ending. Not that I hated or even disliked the ending but I think the above would have been better.

 

[HariKari]

I saw it in US and got to experience american audiences clapping after every other scene... Wtf.

Have never heard of or experienced this. Ever.

Chappie was merely okay. A little too much Die Antwoord fanservice, some lazy writing, and a questionable ending.

 

[Verdre]

Saw it tonight and loved it. Went in expecting Johnny 5: As Raised by Los Locos and I got my wish.

 

[burgervan]

I got dragged to this last night. I loved D9 but hated Elysium and the reviews for Chappie prepared me for the worst, but I ended up really enjoying it. It was profoundly stupid, but in a really entertaining way.

I think people's mileage will vary depending on how much Die Antwoord they can tolerate. I'm a fan, so I just thought it was hilarious that they were playing themselves and wearing their own merch.

 

[Viridian6]

I enjoyed it, though it got ridiculous at the end.

 

[shintoki]

Chappie was surprising good.

It's a film that has its problems, but had enough good aspects and ideas backing it to succeed.

But it is also a film where an additional 5 or 6 months working on the script and some cast changes would have been a great one.

 

[wmlk]

Every time stupid mommy and daddy were in the movie, it sucked.

So yeah, the movie mostly sucked.

 

[Man]

What a Great film! One of the more mis-reviewed films of recent memory. I thought it was full of heart (more-so than D9 even) which took me by surprise.
The audience I shared cinema with laughed a ton plus a good dose of 'aaaws' at the cute scenes.

 

[Megalosaro]

Sorry guys, I thought this movie was fucking amazing. Great movie imho. I loved how the ending played out.

 

[Fj0823]

Just came from it,
Its bad,but enjoyable
Fuck if I didn't enjoy watching it, it was creative, and had some powerful moments, the ending sucked hard though.

Way better than Elysium.

 

[wondermega]

Big fan of D9 and very disappointed by Elysium. Early word, Rotten Tomatoes and gaf all lowered my expectations, but I was curious. Glad I went and very happy I didn't wait to catch it on video. Excellent film all-around. Blomkamp redeemed!

 

[PantherLotus]

Love seeing all the positive reviews rolling in on this thread.

 

[Wag]

Chappie is a dick.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Was better than I thought it would be. Had a bit of fun. Great effects work.

That said, it really did have a lazy, lazy script. The epitome of which is Weaver's sudden shift from 2d character with little motivation into 1 dimensional territory in the span of 20 seconds at the beginning of the third act.

At least it was better than Elysium.

 

[strafer]

Movie was okay actually.

and Hans Zimmer did an amazing job on the score.

 

[Dicer]

Just got back...Chappie is not Crappie.

Had fun with it

 

[Quick]

Chappie is a dick.

Real gangsta shit

 

[SD-Ness]

I love D9. Never saw Elysium. My review breakdown:

Graphics/Designs - awesome
Cinematography - awesome
Soundtrack - Zimmer stuff was good but didn't dig the rap shit
Character Dev - pretty one-dimensional
Plot - terrible
Themes - good (AI, consciousness, etc.) but poorly executed

Overall: I don't think it's very good.

 

[way more]

Here is Hugh Jackman's character in a nutshell.

"I'll just hide here and wait to overhear the next plot development."





Anyway, the last 8 minutes have incredibly disturbing implications for the future.

 

[Deadstar]

Disturbing how? If you don't believe in

Spoiler

an afterlife why wouldn't you want to live forever? I don't like having my pets and people I know dying around me.

 

[Zombine]

Here is Hugh Jackman's character in a nutshell.

 

[glaringradio]

Saw it. Loved it. Absolutely hate Die Antwoord, but have to give props to Yolandi and Ninja. I've seen professional actors and actresses give far worse performances than they did. In particular Yolandi and her connecting with Chappie was very believable to me.

 

[Santerestil]

Meanwhile, in Italy...

HUMANDROID!!!

They have renamed the movie Humandroid.



Asylum ain't nothing against italian distributors!

 

[Toa TAK]

I liked the movie. Movie sucked, but I still liked most of it. I just didn't care for any of these damn characters save Chappie and Deon.

Spoiler

Like, why do we end up following these gangsta assholes? I didn't care for any of them, especially when they finally died (minus Ninja but I wanted him to go, too). They were the ones that I felt really held back the movie for me. I think there were a lot of instances of wasted potential here and there to really talk about human beings and just how humanity acts as a whole while looking through the lens of what's essentially a newborn on the outskirts of mankind. There was a great bit about Chappie asking his CREATOR why he was just made to die, or why it there just had to be in end in general. But nothing really comes out of it. There could've been more social commentary on the police force as well. The Scouts seem to do a great job at taking out the rabid criminals, but how do they interact with regular civilians? How does this compare to the way the human cops may pick on the poor? Would the Scouts do the same? How would Chappie reconcile with that? There was another awesome moment where Chappie is playing with the doll that looks like "Mommy", that could've been some neat Oedipus exploration right there. Would a robot feel like that? Could it? Also raising a child as gender neutral would've been neat to stem from that as well. Ninjasshole sees him playing with the doll and wants him to stop acting like a pussy for the heist. So they just make him tough. Couldn't that have been some social commentary on the way people raise boys vs girls? What about consciousness? That was a big one that seemed like no big deal and just a tool to save characters. Chappie figures out robo-immortality and it's like "No biggie, thanks Chappie, my son." Also, speaking of son, could've been cool to see more parental scenes from Deon and the rest on how they were trying to raise this child. Chappie's morality is constantly conflicted and that's great because he's got Ninjasswipe on one side and his CREATOR on another, but I wish we got more of him watching some 80s toons or something to see him develop his own idea of right and wrong/ good and evil like most of us did when we were kids (if we weren't being spanked, of course). Also Hugh Fucking Jackman: Dude keeps calling on the Lord and seems to have a major peeve about AI-- that's it's not human, it can't be us. Where does this fear really stem from? Is it his faith? Is it his religion or something? I ask because it would've been cool to tie it back to Dean being a creator to Chappie, something with life and consciousness and the ability to do right and wrong and live for itself. It would be the case that the whole "man plays God" bit would be perfect here, too.

Bleh. But yeah, I still liked it. Got intense at parts and you can't help but feel for No. 22 throughout the film. There was a couple in front of me, and the girl was really into this, quietly crying and cheering during the film. Not bad, but happy to see that the movie DID have an effect on someone besides me. lol Hans Zimmer's electronic score was really cool as well and didn't expect him with Blomkamp before.

Now I got to decide whether or not to give Elysium a shot.

 

[inm8num2]

Meanwhile, in Italy...

I'm surprised they didn't add Brad Pitt to that poster.

(reference)

 

[RetroDLC]

I saw Chappie on Tuesday, which is cheapo ticket day in the UK. It's a great sci-fi film that somehow managed to get mangled with a Die Antwoord music video during the editing process. If the film handled its subject matter more like Ex_Machina, it certainly would have done better.

 

[way more]

Disturbing how? If you don't believe in

Spoiler

an afterlife why wouldn't you want to live forever? I don't like having my pets and people I know dying around me.

Disturbing. For instance when Chappie tells Dev Patel, "This may be disorientating." Yeah, you think?!

Spoiler

He just had his consciousness transferred to a cold steel body and he can see his lifeless corpse. A fundamental change in the order of life and everything we know and the only reflection we get is that is might be "disorientating," and then two seconds later Patel is fine.

And what about Mommie? She's gonna wake up and not know what the fuck is going on. Why doesn't she have a body? What is she? Where is she? There are serious existential issues the movie just pretended don't exist. I imagine her awakening is something like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0V-yaOGrYw

Spoiler

And now chappie can transfer his identity to the hundreds of spare robots, he can manufacture them, he's become a God. He's still a adolescent! What will his teenage years be like? How will he rebel? What if he starts reading ISIS propaganda?

A whole can of worms was opened and the only reflection is that it is disorientating for a few moments. Some of it I'm extrapolating and thinking too much about, but the main subject of "What is life?" is never questioned in the movie.

 

[EatChildren]

Movie was dumb and stupid and sucked and marks two-for-two where Blomkamp and co show they've got good ideas and eager to touch on interesting (if cliche) science fiction scenes but are miserable at actually executing on the premise.

Parts were good, aesthetically pleasing, Chappie itself a lot of fun, but tonally all over the fucking place and littered with Blomkamp's Elysium trope of spending nowhere near enough time developing his ideas as the narrative jumps around characters, settings, and plots trying to tie them all together and doing a poor job of it. The dialogue is routinely hammy and one dimensional, casting and characterisation disorientating and unconvincing, and almost all of the themes poorly explored and often quickly contradictory. Despite adoring Die Antwoord their integration into the film, including their "brand" in real world music and identity, was a mess. Jackman's character was laughably odd to the point of a skit. Spotty acting. Shit product placement. Just...what...all the way through.

Scenes where it found a balance between the science fiction themes and tongue-in-cheek presentation/script were the highlights, complimenting the Die Antwoord personas, the setting, Chappie's growing personality, etc. Most everything else was balls.

At least with Elysium I can see what Blomkamp was trying to accomplish and even though it mostly failed it was consistent with its presentation and identity. Chappie is just so fucking incoherent and inconsistent that the good stuff is buried under an average-at-best-frequently-worse film.