Film Review: Chappie

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Chappie. Rated MA15+ (strong violence and coarse language). 120 minutes. Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.

Verdict: Much, much more of the same from Blomkamp and Co.

When Blomkamp burst onto the scene with District 9 (2009), science fiction fans rightfully celebrated the arrival of a new hero. The Oscar-nominated, box office smash hit (powered by the themes of corporate corruption, racism, segregation and militaristic over-policing) from a director on debut was practically unheard of.

With Elysium (2013), Blomkamp revisited similar themes, working his disdain for class differences into a frenzy by having the wealthy, privileged population circling Earth in a gigantic, disease-free space station, liberated from the poverty of lesser mortals who remained on a toxic Earth.

The problem with Chappie, is that the director and his partner, co-writer Tatchell, appear to have run out of original ideas. What saves it from being as much of a fiasco as it constantly threatens to be, is the naïve title character’s heart-warming journey.

Chappie (Sharlto Copley) is a robot policeman destined for the junk yard. His ‘maker’, Deon (Dev Patel), has developed a code that will see the robots thinking for themselves and assuming other human qualities. When Deon successfully implants the code into Chappie, the robot begins a journey to an exclusively kind-hearted maturity before being trained by a group of mercenaries to help pull off a dangerous heist.

The always-reliable Patel is great as the neurotic Deon, while Hugh Jackman (with an awe-inspiring mullet), storms through the film as the inventor of a giant, human-controlled robot that is designed to destroy everything and everyone in its path. The presence of Sigourney Weaver only reminds us that she is reportedly to star as Ellen Ripley in Blomkamp’s heavily signposted Alien 5.

We can only hope that their next film together doesn’t end up resembling Alien vs WALL•E.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film review: Elysium

Elysium. Rated MA 15+ (strong bloody violence). 109 minutes. Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp.

Verdict: An uneven, but ultimately rewarding, post-apocalyptic, big screen adventure.

Hollywood’s obsession with a post-apocalyptic universe reaches a particular zenith with Blomkamp’s (District 9) aggressive and over-loaded take on our not-too-distant future. It is a grand and ambitious vision, beautifully realised by Production Designer Philip Ivey and cinematographer Trent Opaloch, both of whom collaborated with Blomkamp on District 9.

It is 2154, and the privileged live on Elysium – a state-of-the-art space station where cancer is cured by a full-body scanning machine in only minutes. Everyone else lives on an over-populated, impoverished Earth – dreaming of, one day, being able to afford a ticket to Elysium’s utopian world, where sprawling mansions are surrounded by picturesque gardens and unpolluted water.

Blomkamp’s cut ‘n’ thrust screenplay explores so many grand themes that it becomes difficult to keep up with them. And unlike almost every other movie reviewed this year, Elysium powers to a stark and incredibly moving conclusion that you expect it to dodge.

Matt Damon is great as parolee Max, whose desperation to get to Elysium ensures that the stakes at play are incredibly high. Damon is well supported by an excellent performance from Alice Braga (I Am Legend) as his childhood sweetheart, now doctor and single mum, Frey. As the leading resistance fighters, Wagner Moura’s resourceful Spider and Diego Luna’s loyal friend Julio both deliver spirited performances that beautifully account for the resistance movement’s resourcefulness and determination to eventually reach Elysium safely.

Jodie Foster, surprisingly, spends much of her time striding around Elysium and fighting with a peculiar accent (the accent wins), while Sharlto Copley’s (The A-Team, District 9) toxic, special agent Kruger is so unlikeable that it becomes increasingly difficult to care about what happens to him.

Even though Blomkamp sets Elysium in 2154, it might just as easily be taking place today. Corruption, greed, selfishness, poverty, pollution, over-population and ruthless exploitation are all themes we can immediately relate to. Precisely what we are prepared to sacrifice in order to change what we can for the better (and not just for ourselves), is the question.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.