Friday, March 13, 2015

Chappie (2015)

Director: Neill Blomkamp. Cast: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Yo-Landi Visser, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver. 120 min. Rated R. USA/Mexico. Action/Sci-Fi.

A film instructor friend once told me a story rule long ago: if there's a minor character in the story whom the audience's heart beats for ... never kill that character off! Blomkamp's Chappie borrows prohibitively from Robocop, climaxes with concepts from Her and Transcendence, and breaks the above cardinal rule, smashing the audience's heart to smithereens (you know which character, if you've seen the movie). Since Elysium was such a downer, I'm beginning to think Blomkamp is a modern day Shyamalan, whose District 9 was just an accidental masterpiece. Similar to District 9, they've left room for a sequel here.

Mo says:

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10 comments:

  1. ToastMarch 14, 2015 at 5:59 AM

    I went to see this a week ago and with no preconceptions I had no idea what to expect. I loved the South African setting and I loved the movie. This gets a two thumbs up from me. It worked on all levels although things did get a bit silly in places.

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    1. MohsenMarch 14, 2015 at 8:15 AM

      Spoiler Alert!

      Toast, you know which character I'm talking about, right? Yo-Landi's death hurt me so bad, even the feeble attempt to bring her back to life in robotic form at the end didn't work for me.

      Have you seen Blomkamp's "District 9"? That movie was such an energetic sociopolitical force in sci-fi, nothing Blomkamp does lives up to the expectations that movie created for me.

      Delete
  2. ToastMarch 14, 2015 at 4:00 PM

    I haven't seen District 9 but will rectify that next week.

    I agree that Yo-Landi's death was heart wrenching but I felt it was necessary and bringing her back as a robot made for an upbeat end to the movie and leaves it open for a decent sequel which in some ways I hope they never make.

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  3. ToastMarch 18, 2015 at 9:19 AM

    I watched District 9 last night and loved it!

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    1. MohsenMarch 18, 2015 at 10:41 AM

      If you liked "Chappie", I knew you would love "District 9".

      Delete
  4. ToastMarch 19, 2015 at 6:24 AM

    I'm getting quite excited now about Blomkamp's Alien movie although he states that it will replace Alien 3 which I quite liked.

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    1. MohsenMarch 19, 2015 at 9:28 AM

      Contrary to majority opinion, I liked Alien 3 also.

      Delete
  5. ToastMarch 19, 2015 at 7:01 AM

    Bah! Just found out that the Alien project has been shelved.

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    1. MohsenMarch 19, 2015 at 9:27 AM

      Yes, I saw Blomkamp's sketches for the new Alien project a few weeks ago, and got pretty excited (have you seen them?). Even Sigourney Weaver had given her blessing! Disappointed when I read it fell apart.

      Delete
  6. ToastMarch 20, 2015 at 1:17 PM

    Apart from the 'Alien' with Weavers face! That was just plain daft.

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