tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505812700967330296.post9023551954003332227..comments2023-10-30T11:46:43.284+00:00Comments on Musings of the Cosmic Calamari: Chappie Chat Number 2: Chappie Is Number Johnny FiveSpaceSquidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09760939592584995876noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505812700967330296.post-43598145873568259722016-02-26T12:21:09.349+00:002016-02-26T12:21:09.349+00:00I don't remember Chappie forgetting the detona...I don't remember Chappie forgetting the detonator, so much as prioritising something else (keeping his mother safe? I forget). Nor am I sure Jackman is going after Patel; his nominal target is Chappie but I think he's happy enough just wasting people. He's been allowed to unleash his testosterone-fuelled wet-dream walking tank/dick-compensator; he's gonna use it to gun down as many people as possible. I'm sympathetic to the idea that this isn't remotely clear, though.<br /><br />I actually think it's a strength of the film that no-one gives a shit about AI, other than Jackman who hates the idea. I absolutely love that Patel tries to sell Weaver on how indescribable a game changer this is but she couldn't give two shits because it's not immediately relevant to the company's business strategy. That just couldn't feel more right to me.<br /><br />I think you're on much firmer ground over the ending. I'd much rather Chappie had failed to save his creator, on balance. I'm not convinced a sacrifice is invalidated by it ultimately proving unnecessary, but I found it kind of a cop-out too.<br /><br />Regarding the action, I think that's a fair ((rip off of) Robo-) cop, though I found Die Antwood pretty fascinating - it's hard for me to tell how bad someone's acting is when they're representing a nationality and a subculture of which I am so ignorant. I'll take your word for it that the cinematography is bland; that's your wheelhouse rather than mine. I do confess though I can't remember being particularly impressed at any point other than how good a job the CGI department had done, which would certainly suggest you're on to something.<br /><br />Lastly, I'm not sure we're actually in too much disagreement about the film being a mess. It's just I find it a fascinating mess. Yes, it's incoherent, but you can be incoherent for less interesting reasons than just throwing so much into the mix as <i>Chappie</i> does here. So sure, nothing gets space to breathe, but better ideas be suffocated than starve to death.SpaceSquidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09760939592584995876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505812700967330296.post-29220374308925721352016-02-24T22:27:07.654+00:002016-02-24T22:27:07.654+00:00Short Circuit Two was rubbish but I'll offer i...Short Circuit Two was rubbish but I'll offer in it's defense of it's limited depiction of crime that it was a family film, which Chappie very much isn't!<br /><br />Anyway I think Chappie is pretty poor from a standard filmmaking point of view as well. <br /><br />The plotting is largely by the numbers and full of characters doing strange things. Like when Chappie forgets about the detonator to destroy MOOSE mid fight until basically everyone's dead. <br /><br />Why does Hugh Jackman spend time trying to kill all the gang members with MOOSE when he just has to kill Dev and has a number of opportunities to do so?<br /><br />Nobody seems to be that bothered that Deon makes one of the biggest science breakthroughs in history by developing true AI. He then basically turns out to have discovered immortality in a cop out, people live ending that robs him of any significance in his sacrifice for Chappie.<br /><br />And that's just a couple of the dodgy writing moments.<br /><br />The performances are all over the place. Patel's is pretty decent and Copley's mo-cap work is pretty good. However Weaver phones it in, Jackman hams it up, Die Antwood are both basically terrible and the rest of the supporting cast appear to be doing pantomime a lot of the time.<br /><br />Blomkamp again throws in jarring devices like CCTV camera footage when he can't think of another way to show something. Then flips back to bland cinematography.<br /><br />And as mentioned I really don't get the sense the film really knows what it wants to be. <br /><br />A satire akin to Robocop? A piece about the nature of AI and what it is to be 'alive'? A sort of Frankenstein story? A political piece on the violence in South Africa? A robotic version of ET? A drama? A comedy? It really doesn't know.<br /><br />Blomkamp as a director seems to be stuck between Nolan (lots of big ideas) and Bay (bombast, ott violence) without threatening to master either approach. Goodernoreply@blogger.com