This UK Chappie Trailer Show That The World Is Scared Of A Teenage Robot
Just the other day, we got our best look yet at Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming robotic actioner Chappie in the form of an in depth trailer from Sony Pictures. It provided a wider view of the world of the film, as well as a more in depth look at the plot, and hot on the heels of that reveal comes this new trailer from the U.K.
Released by Yahoo U.K., this video hits many of the same notes as the previous offering, though there is a ton of new footage that we hadn’t seen yet. Chappie’s creator, Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), wants to make a machine that can think and feel, so of course someone finds a way to weaponize his invention, establishing a robotic police force. On the other side is Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman and his mullet), a rival inventor and former soldier. He thinks artificial intelligence is too unpredictable, so his entry into these sweepstakes is something more akin to a drone, which looks conspicuously like ED-209 from RoboCop. (As has been pointed out repeatedly, there are also numerous similarities with Short Circuit.)
You expect a collection of thematic and moral concerns in a story like this, and you definitely get them in this trailer. Many people fear that AI will eventually supplant the human race, there’s intolerance, and, of course, Chappie winds up being more human than many of the human involved, so there’s that. This is all fertile ground for Blomkamp to play around with, and the allegorical nature of the story is right up his alley.
While that’s promising, lets hope he uses a more delicate touch than with his last outing, Elysium. Though that was still a beautiful looking film, his sophomore effort (after the much celebrated District 9) had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, pounding its point home time and time again. (I’m still of the opinion that if he told that story, with those characters, in that place, his message would have sounded loud and clear, and that he didn’t need to use such a heavy hand. Then again, it was also only his second film.) Right now this looks like it could easily go either way, especially with some very on-the-nose dialogue.
If you missed it, or just want to check it out again, here is the previous Chappie trailer:
Chappie also stars Sigourney Weaver, Juan Pablo Cantillo, Yolandi Vi$$er and Ninja (better known as rap-rave duo Die Antwoord), and more, and opens everywhere March 6.
