Drop your weapons for this new clip from CHAPPIE

We all know Neill Blomkamp is a talented guy, otherwise the powers that be wouldn’t have trusted him with something as earth-shatteringly important as a new Alien film. That being said, I’m worried about Chappie. It looks damn good in the trailer, don’t get me wrong, but that’s what trailers are designed to do.

I think I just still have a sour taste in my mouth from Elysium. While District 9 wasn’t overly subtle as an allegory for Apartheid, it still had a damn decent plot and some epic sci-fi action, plus the Proudly South African we-made-this-movie patriotism factor. On the opposite end of the scale, Elysium basically bashed you over the head while screaming “THIS IS ABOUT AMERICAN IMMIGRATION/HEALTHCARE ISSUES”, which overshadowed the movie as a whole. Plus WTF was up with Jodie Foster’s accent? Ugh. Like I said, I’m bitter.

Anyway, Sony Pictures have released a new clip from Chappie, so we can see a bit of what it’s going to be like without being dazzled by perfectly chosen clips and an emotive soundtrack.

Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings – some good, some bad – and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man. But there’s one thing that makes Chappie different from anyone else: he is a robot. The first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. His life, his story, will change the way the world looks at robots and humans forever.

Hmm, I’m still on the fence. Stylistically, this movie looks amazing, with the robots and the drones and whatnot, but then so did Elysium. The morally-questionable idea of the robots being used as a bullet-soaking first line of defence is definitely going to come into play with the whole robots-have-feelings-too message of the film, but hopefully it doesn’t get too heavy handed. One thing’s for certain though, I’m definitely not sold on the idea of Die Antwoord, the few lines that Ninja has in that clip made me cringe.

Starring Sharlto Copley (because of course), Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver and *shudder* Die Antwoord, Chappie will be in zeffing it up in cinemas on March 13, 2015.

Last Updated: February 20, 2015