Neil Blomkamp has quickly emerged as one of the most interesting, visionary science fiction directors of our time. His movies always combine high-concept sci-fi with current cultural hot button issues. His stories frequently mix the biological with the technological, and he always has interesting things to say about both.
He first challenged our prejudices with the astonishing District 9, then he teamed with Matt Damon to fight the 1% in Elysium. For his third turn at bat, he's swinging even harder into the life-versus-technology debate. It's called Chappie, and it's about one of the most unique individuals the world has ever known — a gifted prodigy full of potential. The catch is, Chappie is a robot. He's the world's first-ever thinking, intelligent, self-aware robot, capable of learning and maturing.
Hmm. A robot that becomes sentient, who's hunted by people who fear him, except for his creator and friends who try to protect him...
Sound familiar? The first trailer might not have brought to mind the movie Short Circuit, but this one carries some strong overtones. Of course there are plenty of differences, and we're not suggesting that Chappie cribbed from Short Circuit's plot in any way. In fact, we'd go so far as to say that any similarities to Short Circuit are a good thing.
Sony released an exciting new trailer for Chappie today, so see if you think it's sporting a Short Circuit vibe.
Chappie stars Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver in the kinds of roles we rarely see them in: villains. They play characters who see Chappie as a danger to humanity and want him destroyed at all costs. The film also stars Dev Patel as Chappie's benevolent inventor, and the man Blomkamp casts in all of his films, the talented Sharlto Copley as the title character.
Chappie arrives in theaters on the surprisingly soon date of March 6, 2015.
