Director: Neill Blomkamp
Year Released: 2015
Rating: 2.0
Decommissioned police robot Chappie (Sharlto Copley, with the aid of some excellent CGI) ends up with a new A.I. courtesy of his "creator" Deon (Dev Patel) and also finds himself in the hands of area thugs (Yo-Landi and Ninja, of rap group Die Antwoord) who want to use him for nefarious means. Blomkamp imbues this effort with a medley of ideas - the Frankenstein story (in his own way), parenting and nature-vs.-nurture, the future of technology, the political state of South Africa, immortality - but those ideas are introduced and never brought to resolution: he overloads his movie with concepts he doesn't have enough of an attention span to fully explore. It doesn't seem to know what to do with the Hugh Jackman character (he turns into a murderous villain because the movie needs a third act) and Blomkamp probably didn't make the smartest choice casting Die Antwoord in any capacity (neither are particularly skilled in the acting department ... or singing department for that matter). A very, very strong suspension of disbelief is required.
