Hugh Jackman Starred In A Forgotten Sci-Fi Flop From The Director Of District 9

Many may be startled to remember that Hugh Jackman appeared in South Africa-born filmmaker Neill Blomkamp's sci-fi curio "Chappie." Many will be equally startled when they see Jackman's hair in that movie. Maybe it was the hair that caused "Chappie" to flop.

Te remind readers of some recent-ish film history: When Blomkamp's feature directing debut "District 9" was released in theaters in 2009, it caused quite a stir. Made for only $30 million, the movie told a pointedly political story about shrimp-like space aliens who landed in Johannesburg in 1982 and were thereafter forced to live in the titular shantytown ghetto, treated like vagrants, and hated by the human population. "District 9" made over $210 million at the box office and was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture.

Blomkamp instantly became a huge Hollywood player and, over the next six years, he made two high-profile but less well-received sci-fi movies. 2013 saw the release of his Matt Damon vehicle "Elysium," while 2015 saw the premiere of "Chappie," a bizarre robot flick starring Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, and South African rap duo Die Antwoord as themselves, with "District 9" lead Sharlto Copley playing the title robot via motion-capture.

"Chappie" is a very strange film that blends recognizable story elements from several popular sci-fi movies, filtered through the zef sensibilities of Die Antwoord ("zef" being a slang term that refers to a trashy aesthetic attributed to white working-class kids from South Africa). The film is built just as much around the rap duo as it is robots, so it's perhaps not surprising that the movie under-performed across the board. Indeed, Blomkamp has been very frank about the failure of "Chappie" in the years since it came out.

"Chappie" is set in a near-future Johannesburg where crime rates have skyrocketed. As such, the South African government has purchased squadrons of "scouts," i.e. armed humanoid robots that round up ruffians. In this regard, "Chappie" is very much like Paul Verhoeven's 1987 classic "RoboCop."

Story-wise, the movie reveals that Deon, a mild-mannered scientist played by Dev Patel, has developed a new type of AI software that allows robots to have free will and emotions. However, he is forbidden by his boss (Sigourney Weaver) from testing it on a police-bot. So, in response, he tries to abscond with a recently damaged robot, only to be kidnapped by Ninja and Yolandi (the members of Die Antwoord playing versions of themselves) on his way home. Ninja and Yolandi then order Deon to reprogram the robot, who awakens with a childlike demeanor and timid personality. Ninja and Yolandi name the robot Chappie (Sharlto Copley) and take it in as both a child to raise and a member of their gang. They teach Chappie swagger and their street-level life philosophy. In this regard, "Chappie" is very much like John Badham's 1986 robot comedy "Short Circuit." It's not long before Chappie is being trained to steal cars, too. It's all very whimsical.

Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman plays Vincent, a soldier turned engineer who serves as the film's central antagonist. He is developing a giant, tank-like enforcer bot called MOOSE, which very much resembles the ED-209 robots from "RoboCop." The rest of the movie features multiple shootouts and instances of a human consciousness being shunted into a computer. All in all, "Chappie" is a wild sci-fi/action hybrid that's undergirded by Die Antwoord's attitude.

Critics, to say the least, were not very impressed by "Chappie." At the time, all the conversations I had about the film were about its similarities to "RoboCop" and "Short Circuit." Also, those who didn't know about Die Antwoord or their music must have been baffled to see such oddball characters in a $49 million sci-fi actioner.

/Film's review of "Chappie" described the film as being clumsy and full of sloppy characterizations, pointing out that Chappie himself "is modeled after the most generic movie kid imaginable" and that Jackman's character "isn't just a villain, he's a volatile psychopath who'll happily sacrifice hundreds of others for his own professional gain." It added that the movie's plot is full of holes, while its political messages about class and techno-fascism are frustratingly un-subtle.

Peter Sobczynski, writing for RogerEbert.com, gave the film one star (out of four), predicting that Neill Blomkamp would spend a portion of his near-future apologizing for "Chappie." He found the movie to be thematically empty, and he hated Chappie as a character, writing:

"One of the biggest problems with the film is that Chappie himself is pretty much a tool, both literally and figuratively. The screen has seen any number of robot creations that has managed to demonstrate remarkably human characteristics [...] but Chappie, despite the best efforts by Blomkamp to humanize him (such as slapping a 'REJECT' sticker on its forehead), is almost stunningly unappealing."

Sobczynski added that the overall movie was "an exhausting slog through overly familiar cliches that is nowhere near as profound or touching as it clearly thinks it is." What else is there to say, really?