Chappie

Pretty bad. The great technical aspects and a titanic protagonist who really looks 100% real unfortunately can't balance the extremely annoying characters, the disappointing barking of Sigourney Weaver and a shoddy script that makes a fool of even poor Hugh Jackman. Oh dear. Neill Blomkamp has a lot to fix in his next film. (2015-06-02)

Science fiction live, or another escapade by Neill Blomkamp, a lover of craziness. But while District 9 was original and Elysium was at least technically opulent, Chappie is neither. It cutely and at the same time quite stupidly winks at the viewer, but essentially offers clichés and average emotions. You will sympathise with the robot protagonist only when he cutely says "fuckmother" and philosophises with his equally cute father and mother. Otherwise, it's just an ordinary film that doesn't have much to offer. There’s not much action, Hugh Jackman is in a strange role that doesn't give him much space, and Sharlto Copley, instead of running around the set and throwing his brilliant psycho lines and crazy faces, is in a metal box. (2015-03-15)

My friends ask me what Chappie was like, so I'll post here on FilmBooster what I usually tell everyone: Not great. Apparently the director tried hard to make another District 9, only with robots, and it didn't work out so well. There's too much violence for my taste, especially violence against Chappie himself (not just physical, but psychological as well). Apparently, to make it less drastic, the director added some comic elements, in which he makes the robot a gangster. Unfortunately, it was funny only once; after that I found it rather awkward. Another problem was that Chappie is a film where there isn't a single likable character I could relate to – I hated them all, even Chappie himself (that is, only from the middle of the film; he was just a cute little kid at the beginning). The action was okay, Hugh Jackman as the bad guy was for me a role I've never seen him in before, so more or less a nice bonus. He played the maniac pretty convincingly. Unfortunately, I felt that the already rather contradictory film ended as if someone had pulled it out of their hat (I would say “out of their ass" to my friends, but I won't use such foul language here!). Apparently they don't have hospitals in Johannesburg. It has logical flaws; it has no hero. From a feeling point of view, I absolutely disliked the film (I kept telling myself that this is wrong, it's not supposed to be like this). Don't let the kids see it, show them Short Circuit instead. (2015-03-13)

Once again, it's a story told in a rush and in a hastily made-up world that stands on terribly unstable legs. Just like with Elysium, logic is dealt a heavy blow every few minutes, confirming once and for all that I don't understand the most determined advocate for the Republic of South Africa. It's clear how much he enjoys writing, directing, and perfecting films, but when bloody scenes alternate with infantile ones and a barrage of insults with moralizing, it's all for nothing. That's why all credit goes to undeterred Hugh Jackman, whose villain is boring, illogical, and oddly poorly written – and yet I still enjoyed watching him. But without the final ten minutes, which will surely make pedantic viewers tear their hair out in desperation, it's a downhill journey once again. This is how Neill Blomkamp successfully extracted emotions from me for the first time in his career. Because of this, I have increasing concerns about the fate of the fifth Alien film, no matter what plot lines it follows. (2015-03-11)

Blomkamp the director trying hard to compensate for the incompetence of Blomkamp the screenwriter. Chappie is nice to look at, it has some good moments, but when you start thinking about it… :-( When you take the stories of each of the characters away from the plot, their behaviour is well… a stupidity race with a photo finish. Every single one of the blokes in there do the best they can to excel in this discipline. (2015-05-20)