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Reviews
Chappie (2015)
Entertaining & enjoyable movie
Firstly, let me just say I don't write reviews often. So this won't be a traditional review, but just my experience with the film.
When I entered the cinema, all I knew was this film was about a robot and it was directed by the same director as District 9. I had no idea who the actors were, what the storyline entailed, nor did I have any prior expectations. I actually had rather low expectations.
The film started rather slowly. I pieced together the story, and the introduction did remind me of district 9. I started to think, perhaps this film is just a rehash of the District 9 ideas and I was questioning why follow the same path? Then it introduced Die Antwood as actors. This was a double shock, early on within the film, and it had me start thinking whether this was simply going to end up being a poor cliché film. However, once the film actually gets started, and the main premise is set, and Chappie is introduced to the audience, along with Hugh Jackman, the film simply gets better and better, and surprisingly, so does the acting work of Die Antwood.
I was actually impressed by how natural the Die Antwood crew filled their roles once their characters were established and properly introduced. They almost performed the roles in a self-depreciating way, making fun of the characters along with themselves in the process. The over-emphasis on their gangster ways provoked a few moments of laughter from myself and the audience. At first their characters almost seem dislikable, however, as the movie progresses you start to build empathy for them. They performed very well in the role, and they provided for the perfect contrast with the Engineer who designed Chappie (who Chappie refers to as his 'Creator'), played by Dev Patel, both of whom, provided the wildly contrasting influences upon Chappie during his development.
This is a key part of the movie in my opinion. The underlying messages that the film seeks to portray and/or provoke among the audience is obviously and area where Neil focused. The dynamics that occur between the two major influences on Chappie, by his Creator, and his 'Mummy' and 'Daddy' (Die Antwood), reflect the real life influences that can be observed upon children and teenagers, and reminds the viewer of how environmental factors can play a large role in shaping a youths psyche. This movie does this surpassingly well in my opinion. The innocent, inexperienced and vulnerable Chappie is therefore exposed to these elements, out of his own free will and control. He has no say to what he is exposed to at a young age. He doesn't know any better, and therefore puts trust in those around him. As a result of this some scenes can make you feel strong emotion, and can actually come across as rather sad and endearing. This is definitely a key area where the film excels in my opinion, i.e. making you feel a connection and emotion for the character. Even if the character is just a robot. The film actually does this surprisingly well, much better than 95% of other films, where you don't care if the main character lives or dies.
Now without giving the whole film away, I'll end on one more note. And that is, this film is also a lot of fun! The film never tries to take itself too seriously. In-fact, the entire storyline, when putting it into perspective, is absolutely ridiculous. The absurdness of some scenes, or of some pivotal characters and their entire craziness and far-fetchness etc (bordering on stereotypical clichés) provides for many humorous moments too. This is one of my favourite aspects of the film.
In conclusion Chappie is an excellent, entertaining, original (yes original, which in this day and age is hard to come by) well written movie with solid acting. It offers a range of emotions and layers (depending upon the individual viewers demands). As a result it does surprisingly well in keeping the audience engaged throughout the entire movie (the entire cinema I watched the film in had people of all ages, and 100% of people stayed until the end of the credits, which is very rare for my local cinema, having seen 100's of movies there before and rarely seeing that occur). I personally think many people will enjoy this movie if you give it a chance, and I'm almost certain most people will enjoy this film it if you lower your expectations, relax, and just go in without your judgemental switch on. It really is a fun and enjoyable film and I am very happy I had to pleasure to see it.
The British (2012)
Good show
Overall I have only seen a few episodes but I think it's a rather good show. It will be impossible to fit 2000 years of history in just one TV series with any great depth, so the show does skip a fair bit and can be vague on certain subjects, which if you're a die-hard historian will absolutely loathe. One must understand the audience this show is intended to however (hint: it's not aimed at historians), and in that regard this show does surprisingly well.
This show can be seen as an excellent way to introduce 2000 years of British history to people who perhaps otherwise wouldn't have known this type of information or people who may not be historically interested to begin with. For kids it's brilliant as it keeps them engaged with the guests, the acting and the well made visuals depicting particular moments in time. I believe kids will definitely enjoy this show. The series can then potentially act as a platform for viewers to do further research on their own accord if they so choose.
From that point of view this show serves it's purpose very well in my opinion and it's a great show that can help generate further interest in and awareness of general history.
Also, to the person who gave this show only 1 star. Unfortunately the Romans, as a general concensus, were not black. That doesn't make any sense to be honest, considering how modern day Syrians are notoriously "whiter" than other arabic nations and that is due to the fact they can genetically trace elements of their ancestry to the Romans from the Roman period. It is this very roman ancestry / genetics that give some Syrians green eyes and lighter skin. If the Romans were truly as black as you are suggesting then why doesn't this show on Syrians despite the genetic / DNA matching evidence that suggests otherwise?