Just got out of a screening of Chappie

Managed to get a pass to an early screening of Chappie tonight. I've been anticipating this film as I'm a big fan of District 9, so I jumped on the opportunity.

The visuals and soundtrack to this film are great. Hans Zimmer nailed it yet again, and the robot animations were strikingly similar to that of the Prawns in Disrict 9 (go figure), and I really enjoyed that.

I was a bit worried that the story of a robot with human feelings has been overplayed and that this film would have difficulty separating itself from that narrative. Overall, however, I think it did a good job of giving some actual character to Chappie, and watching him "grow" is entertaining. Turns out Sharlto Copley can give a great performance, even with just his voice.

Another good aspect of the film is that the not-so-subtle political undertones that Blomkamp built the plot of Elysium around aren't really prevalent in Chappie. At least I didn't think so, but I guess someone could view it as a criticism of the growing police state or the evil nature of humans. I'm sure some folks will hate it because of that.

There were a few things that I think could have been done better, but overall I give it a solid B. It's an entertaining movie and redeems Blomkamp of Elysium IMO. I could probably write a better review but I'm feeling braindead at this point.