Chappie- Teen Movie Review

The concept of being pulled over by a robotic police officer seems very strange, however that’s how it was in Johannesburg, South Africa. Set in 2016, the city of Johannesburg’s police force mainly consisted of robots. The storyline is centered around a particular police robot named Chappie, who’s been programmed to become the first robot who has the ability to think and feel for himself. However when a group of thug’s kidnap Chappie, they teach this innocent robot to become like them…shooting, looting and selling drugs. That’s when the battle begins, and that’s when poor Chappie gets involved in illegal activities…ones he was never built to do. Chappie is a dramatic Sci-Fi movie with a lot of disturbing violence and profane language throughout the film.

Rating: 1/2 bucket out of 5 popcorn buckets
Release Date: June 16, 2015
MPAA Rating: R
Best Age Group: 17+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Excessive
Drug and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Will it Appeal to Most Teens? No

Talking Points:

• Deon, Chappie’s maker, encourages him to read, paint and better himself. He tells Chappie he can do whatever he wants to do in life. Deon also makes Chappie promise not to get involved with the thug’s criminal activities. Good parent/child conversations.
• The movie was very disturbing, we saw the gang’s abusive way of living filled with drugs and crime. Chappie seemed like a child, not a robot;  he was kidnapped and forced into their evil ways, which was hard to watch.

Sexual Content: Moderate

• We see a brief porno clip on someone’s TV… full frontal female nudity.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

• The villains encourage Chappie to do evil and disturbing things to innocent people. Chappie manhandles people, leaving them on the streets covered in blood.
• We see several characters shot and killed.
• There are violent battles between men and robots. A man is shown crushed and torn in half by a metal claw.
• Chappie is beaten and set on fire.

Crude or Profane Language: Excessive

• The f-word is said numerous times throughout the film. We also hear “sh-t,” “a–,” “h—,” and “b–ch.”

Drug and Alcohol Content: Excessive

• Characters are shown smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol throughout the film.
• We see one of the thugs counting their drug stash.

Will it Appeal to Most Teens?  Yes

• I interviewed some teenage girls who loved Chappie (the robot) but didn’t like the film.  One girl said, “I loved Chappie, he was so cute, but I didn’t like seeing him tortured.”

Chappie-Teen Movie Review

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