District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s latest sci-fi movie Chappie is out in cinemas on 6 March.
The movie’s set in a near future where crime is controlled by an oppressive mechanized police force. When police droid Chappie is stolen and reprogrammed, he becomes the first robot able to think and feel for himself.
I’m a big fan of Blomkamp’s previous work on District 9 and Elysium, so I’ve put together a list of 9 things I’d love to see in the upcoming Chappie.
1. Something new in the intelligent robot film genre
This is tough to do, but wouldn’t it be amazing if Chappie did it? There have been a lot of robot-related films in the past 3 decades, with the past 10 years seeing some amazing ideas put forth or brought to life (a lot inspired by Isaac Asimov), however it’s rare for us to see something genuinely new, so it would be fantastic to see Blomkamp pull that off!
2. Nods to current robotics
I can already see from the trailer that there’ll be nods to the current state of robotics, drones etc. But with Chappie being set in the near future (2016+), we don’t know how much its world will be based on our current world and how much backstory about the world we’ll get.
3. More backstory
There doesn’t have to be loads more backstory, but it’d be great to have more explanation about the current state of affairs than we got in Elysium.
4. Realistic robots
I’m talking about robots that fit into the world they inhabit. The way technology was portrayed in District 9 was near perfect. A return to that thinking would make me extremely happy. There was too much of a gap in tech between the classes in Elysium. However, the self-awareness seen in Chappie’s trailers looks like it could be really interesting.
5. New rising stars
Chappie is set back in South Africa, as District 9 was, so as well as big stars like Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver, I’m hoping we see some new on-screen talent get their international break from the movie. After all, it was District 9 that made Sharlto Copley’s name outside his native South Africa back in 2009.
6. Dev Patel delivers a great performance
I’ve liked Patel since his time in Skins, but fell out of love with him a bit when he did the adaptation of The Last Airbender (watch the cartoons, they’re so much better). However his Newsroom performances have reaffirmed my faith in him and I hope he continues to impress in Chappie.
7. To be better than Solo!
Solo is a film from 1996 about an android killing weapon, and it’s so bad it’s good! Ignore the IMDB ratings, it was a fun film to watch! However, I want much more for Chappie, and if anyone can deliver that, it’s Blomkamp!
8. An organic growth to Chappie’s intelligence
Fingers crossed we don’t get giant leaps in Chappie’s thinking without any real explanation.
9. A live-action Wall-e
Basically I want to be able to empathise with Chappie as much as those clever bastards at Pixar made us empathise with Wall-e!
Chappie is in cinemas on 6 March 2015.
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