Set once again in Johannesburg, South Africa, we see a future that is perhaps not too distant, where rising crime has prompted a necessary change to the way policing is done in the city.
Tech company Tetravaal, headed by CEO Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver), have developed robots to join the police force in fighting crime. The robots have far superior intelligence, follow standard procedure without fail, and cannot be injured in the line of duty.
These robots, designed by developer Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), do however occasionally require repairs, especially when they are shot at, and naturally run on batteries whose charge lasts about a week at a time.
There is only one person who doesn't like these new robots (apart of course from the criminal gangs throughout Johannesburg), and that is fellow Tetravaal employee Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman).
You see, he had his own pet project he was working on before Deon came along and ruined it for him with his intelligent robots. Vincent - having been ex-military - had spear-headed a program known as 'Moose', whereby a human controller by means of a neural transmitter helmet could control an enormous killing machine from a suitably safe distance away from any dangers.
Deon, inspired by the response he gets from the local police at the success of his robots and the AI embedded in them, has been working on another AI in his own time. He hopes to create a robot that is actually self-aware, a robot that has true consciousness, and can learn, and express itself artistically or any other way it should choose to of its own accord.
One day, when a robot comes in for repairs, he seizes his opportunity. The robot in question has been shot at too many times, and is scheduled for demolition. There are far too many damages to it to allow it to serve in active duty any longer: its battery has fused into the mainframe and cannot be removed to be charged, so it only has a week left of life in any case.
But it is just the 'shell' Deon needs to test his AI in a real machine. So he takes it home (completely against company procedure, of course) and installs his own new software inside it.
Meanwhile, a local group of relatively low-level criminals, Ninja and Yo-Landi (played by real life hip hop artists Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser) and their partner, Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo) need a way to make a lot of money in a very short time. They are in debt to a crime boss, and have only a week to pay.
In a fit of total stupidity, they kidnap Deon (along with his police droid that is no longer a police droid but still looks like a police droid) and force the two of them to go along with their plan (I will leave the details of said plan for you to discover for yourself).
As the robot, who is christened Chappie (and played with incredible skill by Sharlto Copley), becomes more and more aware of himself and his surroundings, he 'grows' in his mental and physical capabilities, just as a human does from childhood into adolescence and then into adulthood.
The most wonderful thing about this film is the insights it provides into what it means to be truly human, to be truly self-aware and conscious. There are so many wonderful messages in this film, and so many things to think about and discuss with other viewers, and to even ponder over oneself.
The script - by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell - is absolutely amazing. I have a suspicion there may be large sections of the film where the cast are improvising their lines and actions somewhat, as this is certainly what was done in District 9 - but there is still a very real sense of an overarching 'control' (for want of a better term) from the writers, as they preside over the story they ultimately want to tell, regardless of the individual minute details of the story and individual moments.
The music consists of two separate elements: the original score, composed by Hans Zimmer; and a bunch of original tracks, written and performed by Ninja and Yo-Landi, who also play Chappie's surrogate 'parents'. Both of these separate elements are handled exceptionally well. It should come as no surprise to any student of scoring for film that Hans Zimmer's abilities are incredible, and he is truly in his element with this film; the score is fantastic. And the original songs (and there are several) are also very good, adding so much detail to the feel and tone of the film.
The cast are all fantastic in their roles, in particular Hugh Jackman and Sharlto Copley. Copley, though never visible on screen as 'himself', breathes so much life and such a nuanced performance into Chappie, it will bring tears to your eyes (well, it did to mine, anyway).
This is such a great film, and I never tire of watching it.
8 out of 10.
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