Chappie Did Not Make Me Happy

This weekend my husband and I went to the movies and saw the new Sci-fi movie Chappie.  Being a Hugh Jackman fan, as well as a Sci-fi fan, I expected to enjoy this movie.  Boy was I wrong!  I was extremely disappointed in it on so many levels.

The description of the movie according to IMDB is:  In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. 

The link to the IMDB page is here:IMDB - Chappie 

The link to the official page is here: Chappie Official Page

The movie was written and directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9)…yet one more reason to expect it to be a good sci-fi flick.  

The idea of a robot learning to think and feel for himself is actually very intriguing to me.  With all the advances in technology recently this seems like something that could definitely be on the horizon….and could actually be a good thing on many levels.  Blomkamp really missed the mark on telling this story though. 

**Spoilers ahead**

The movie is set in Johannesburg, South Africa in the near future at a time when order is maintained largely by a robotic police force called Scouts of which Chappie is one of.  Chappie is injured early on and scheduled for destruction.  Deon Wilson, the developer of the Scouts (played by Dev Patel) wants to test a new program on Chappie (to see if robots can actually learn to think and feel on their own) but is denied by his company’s CEO (played by Sigourney Weaver).  So what does Wilson do?  He steals the robot out of the scrap pile to test on his own and as he is leaving with the robot he is carjacked by some street thugs (played by the rap group Die Antwoord).

This is where the movie went downhill to me.  The street thugs began teaching Chappie their way of life….the criminal way of life.  In the next segment of the film Chappie learns how to talk and walk like a gangster, how to use a gun, how to use a knife, how to harm humans (and repeadedtly does so), how to steal cars, etc…generally, he is taught how to be a thug.   And of course, there is the unnecessary dog fight scene.  They didn’t actually show the dog’s fighting but they implied it and they did show dogs dead.   

Hugh Jackman’s character, Vincent, has also developed a robot, The Moose, which is operated by a human wearing a helmet that links him to the robot.  The Moose is loaded with armaments and extremely lethal with Vincent at the helm.

The altercation with The Moose and Chappie, and all the humans in the crossfire, is over-the-top violent….to the point of one person literally being cut in half by The Moose.

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m not easily offended by violence in movies.  I prefer to watch crime movies, thrillers, action…you get the idea.  But I have a huge problem when the violence in the movie is done in such a manner that it actually teaches people, especially children, to be violent just for the sake of being violent. 

This movie was rated R – something definitely not made clear through the trailers. In fact the trailer made the movie seem as if it was more geared for children…WRONG. 

While I am not big on censorship, I would strongly recommend that parents use caution when allowing their children to watch this movie.  The lessons they will learn from this movie are simply how to be (or at least act) like a thug.  I told this to Ron while we were watching the movie and my point was proven as soon as we walked out of the theater.  There was a group of children (probably all under age 10) that watched it with one adult.  They left in front of us and when leaving the theater were talking about how much they liked the movie while pretending to hold guns and talk about shooting.  Yes, I know this is something that is shown to children everyday…on television, movies, video games, books, etc….but there really has to be a line drawn somewhere.

I can’t seem to find the right words to really express how much this movie disappointed me.   And I don’t want to be a voice for censorship.  I really do think that people should make up their own minds.  I would hope that all parents that allow their children to see this movie also take the time to sit down with them and discuss it.  And again I will say…Chappie did NOT make me happy.  L