Chappie (film)

It stars Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Ninja, Yolandi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Sigourney Weaver.

The film, set and shot in Johannesburg, is about an artificial general intelligence law enforcement robot captured and taught by gangsters, who nickname it Chappie.

A skyrocketing crime rate leads the city of Johannesburg, South Africa to buy a squadron of scouts—state-of-the-art armor-plated attack robots—from weapons manufacturer Tetravaal.

Deon is praised for Tetravaal's success, but Vincent grows envious when the police are unwilling to give his heavy weapons platform equal attention.

At home, Deon creates a prototype artificial intelligence that mimics a human mind to the point of feeling emotions and having opinions, but Tetravaal CEO Michelle Bradley refuses to let him test the A.I.

Yolandi scolds Ninja for this mistreatment, but he manages to earn Chappie's forgiveness by training him in martial arts and weapon handling.

At that moment, the MOOSE robot (controlled remotely by Vincent) is launched to assassinate Deon and Chappie at the hideout, at the same time that Hippo arrives to collect his debt.

Deon and Chappie go into hiding as the police discontinue their contract with Tetravaal, while it is implied that Vincent, assuming he survived, now faces serious criminal charges for his actions.

Chappie hacks into Tetravaal's manufacturing facility, builds a robot resembling Yolandi, and uploads the flash drive's contents.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Chappie boasts more of the big ideas and visual panache that director Neill Blomkamp has become known for – and, sadly, more of the narrative shortcomings.

[25] Justin Chang of Variety wrote, "Intelligence, artificial or otherwise, is one of the major casualties of Chappie, a robot-themed action movie that winds up feeling as clunky and confused as the childlike droid with which it shares its name.

"[26] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "With unappealing one-note characters, retread concepts and implausible motivations, Chappie is a further downward step for director Neill Blomkamp.

"[27] Tim Grierson of Screen International wrote, "...despite his ambitions, Chappie is a bucket of bolts, Blomkamp's desire to say meaningful things outdistancing his ability to say them compellingly.

[29] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle rated it three out of four stars and wrote of Blomkamp, "It's hard to say how much he's doing consciously and how much he's doing through intuition, but he's doing really interesting things in Chappie, and right from the beginning.

"[30] Tom Huddleston of Time Out London rated it four out of five stars and wrote that "this hugely entertaining oddity could never be mistaken for the work of any other filmmaker.

"[31] Ryan Lambie, from Den of Geek, gave the film a positive review stating, "Despite the ragged edges of its story, Chappie nevertheless has real heart beating under its shabby exterior.

[34] Sameen Amer of The Express Tribune opined that the film disregards logic as certain "existential quandaries" are randomly thrown in without straightening out any of the themes before moving on to the next.