[critical] CHAPPIE

En 2009, director Neill Blomkamp struck a great blow in the world of science fiction with his first feature film, District 9. The craze is emerging around the director has been followed by some disappointment four years later with Elysium, his second film. It is, however, the film from south africa who was chosen to wear a new episode of the saga Alien, in which the announcement was made a few weeks ago (see our article here). The release of his third film, CHAPPIE, should allow us to learn more about its capabilities, or not, to ensure such a project. Obviously it’s impossible to imagine anything about Alien 5 from CHAPPIE, both the universes differ. However, with the aesthetic qualities, and staging, mixed in with an interesting scenario, CHAPPIE will soon reassure us.

While crime is high in Johannesburg, a company specializing in the sale of weapons creates the first police unit robotic. Thanks to this new striking power of the forces of order manage to eliminate as the largest criminal networks in the city. A success achieved in large part by Deon, the inventor of these machines. However, wanting to go further, the engineer is developing in secret the first artificial intelligence autonomous with a conscience. A robot named Chappie.

As with District 9, Neill Blomkamp directed a science fiction film whose plot is based on a reality. District 9 took up the theme of xenophobia and apartheid in South Africa, where the victims were creatures extra-terrestrial. With CHAPPIE the crime and the power of the forces of order appear in the background. We find the documentary style always so interesting to Blomkamp who seeks to make his fiction more believable as possible. This is why the director adapts his or her mise en scene, classic in its whole, in addition to a bit of found footage when it comes to the look of the media on police operations, and shifting to a camera with the shoulder in its action scenes. The same goes for the design is very current android SCOUT, perfect robots-humanoids is part of Chappie (played in motion-capture by Sharlto Copley), which contrast with the imposing ORIGINAL, second machine, which is used to assist the police. The pace and the gestures of the recall same as the Metal Gear, weapon fictional appeared in the saga of video games Metal Gear Solid created by Hideo Ko-jima. The whole thing takes place largely between the company and the manufacturing plant, machines, and decorations, decrepit and in ruins close to the slums of District 9. A way to show with finesse the opposition between the majority of the population poor and criminal, and a minority more comfortable.

”With its about rich and the action is still as effective in the director, the set of CHAPPIE is a success.”

But the essence of this story lies within the relationship of Chappie with the world. Mainly with Ninja and Yo-landi, two small strikes which make the discovery of Chappie after removing Deon to force it to turn off all of the robot police officers. Two characters that camp the members of the group rap-rave south african Die Antwoord, and created the basis for their own musical project. The reality is the registry a little more to the work of Blomkamp who uses their songs in accompaniment and their graffiti to illustrate the walls of the scenery. The two oddballs, deliberately over-played and caricaturés by Ninja and Yo-landi Visser, adopting the machine like a child and decide to raise it up, each in his own way. They form with his creator, Deon (effective Dev Patel), a family atypical. Together they manage to relegate the “stars” of the film, Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver, to the rank of a mere guest. Since the whole point of the scenario, and the reversal of the film, resident in its approach to the concept of conscience. In a first step in the “education” of Chappie, and then as a means of reaching to the eternal life, while raising questions about the human body. If our mind was sent in a body robotic, would we be still living beings ?

Returning to something more simple as in his debut, Neill Blomkamp proves that District 9 was not only a stroke of luck and makes us forget Elysium, ultimately too ambitious. The paradox created between a topic of science fiction and the realistic approach of the filmmaker is always so interesting. In spite of the passages a little dumb and a few inconsistencies scriptwriting, with its about rich and the action to be as effective in the director, the set of CHAPPIE is a success.

The other outputs of the 4 march 2015

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