#JustaQuickiePlease: Chappie Review

Neil Blomkamp is quickly becoming a one-trick pony in the scope and feel of his movies, as each one too closely resembles the next; which is a worrisome thing for me, as he helms the newest Alien installment despite all of its hype and its leaked sleek, exciting concept art.  In addition, the idea of a robot finding sentience is not a new idea by any stretch of even the most strained imagination.  To best describe this latest incarnation, one must consider it in this overtly simplistic comparison; Short Circuit meets Robocop within District 9.   The acting is peculiar, not bad, somewhere between annoying and downright precocious.  And kudos to anyone who can take such a larger than life, definitive talent like Jackman and force him to play a ridiculously stereotypical and irritatingly overreaching character; which I type with stinging sarcasm.   The effects are remarkable, as in all of Blomkamp's outings, and the script inundated with creative perspectives regarding life's meanings and purposes and the blessings and trappings of humanity.  But, as I mentioned before, its environments and filming are so identical to his family of preceding works, that sibs appear to be twins, rather than finding their true identities.  It is as if we are watching a running series of separate ideas locked in-discernibly within the same fragmented universe, rather than truly independent features able to equally share the same space.  But maybe, just maybe, that is his purpose; only Neil knows for sure.  Whether that is true or not, unfortunately, for the audience, it becomes a film you watch once, over analyze, and then never really care to watch again.  What a shame for such a uniquely talented director.  1 out of 5 Kernels; at least it's better than Elysium, but can that be interpreted as a real compliment.