By Leilani Neal
Courier Columnist
Let’s open our arms and welcome the rejected robot, Chappie. This robot has shown and changed the thought of human consciousness by the beauty of human sacrifice and desperation. Anyone who has experienced the hunger of wanting to understand and be understood would connect to the lost Chappie as he tries to find it himself.
Chappie, takes place in South Africa where the crime rate is at an all time low and robots are the reason. The city revolves around business and the trembling fact that many are heartless. Each of the robots are known as “Scouts”, which are completely indestructible robots that never eat or sleep, which makes them the perfect cop. But Scout #22 (Later named Chappie) is destroyed by being shot by a missle. The creator of the Scouts, Deon, has spent the last two and half years of his life trying to create a software that could give a robot consciousness (and give it the ability to make decisions and feel) but also, not even knowing it for himself, immortality for humanity. Though, after becoming successful with the software, Deon asks his boss for approval to test it on Scout 22 before it is recycled due to its damage. The boss, played by Sigourney Weaver, constantly told him no, which seemed to be her only job. But Deon takes the Scout anyways and test the software only to be kidnapped by a gang who wants to use the Scout as a invincible member of their group to help them pull off a heist.
The film, Chappie, deserves a lot more credit than it is getting. Even though the film only made 13 million out of the 49 million dollar budget, that shouldn’t keep the audience away from seeing this film. The film is rated R, by what seems to be a mistake, due to hardcore violence and inappropriate language and by this… it has caused the film to hit almost as low as the crime rate shown in the movie. Making the movie rated R has thrown out the movies’ perfect audience, the kids. This movie is extremely cute and heart-warming, the perfect audience would be children, but due to “hardcore violence” and “bad language”, the perfect audience isn’t allowed in without their parents.
The film director, Neill Blomkamp, has shown to make a huge difference from his film District 9 to Chappie, making him look even worse after his failed attempt at getting back in with his film Elysium.And though some believe that he has, many would want to say otherwise. And though the film has a major resemblance to iRobot (starring Will Smith) and the Disney movie, Wall-E, the film still deserves to be seen and be as loved as it deserves to be. Though, the acting performances from Hugh Jackman, the antagonist who wants to destroy Deon’s Scout to unlock his own, and nearly half the cast weren’t the most memorable (because we’ve all known we have seen them do better), doesn’t mean that the movie’s message won’t get across and the audience won’t walk away from the movie rethinking the beauty of most humanity.
