Chappie

There is something called the “idiot plot,” which means a story that only works if everyone in it is an idiot. This is a prime example. From start to finish, no one does anything remotely smart. If that weren’t enough, I didn’t for one millisecond buy the “AI” robot that cringes in fear though he can’t feel pain, who picks up English very, very quickly but never seems to really get the hang of pronouns and stumbles over verbs. “Chappie no want go with Daddy!” It was just so fucking stupid it made my jaw ache from gritting my teeth.

The director, Neill Blomkamp, gained quite a reputation for making District 9, which I didn’t like nearly as much as most people did. Then there was {Elysium,}} which I thought was pretty dumb, and now this, at the moron level. I tremble to think of where he can go from here. All the way down to the depths plumbed by the man who made one good movie, and then a series of turkeys in descending order of quality? I’m speaking, of course, of M. Night Shyamalan.