But what Chappie really is about is Zef-style South African rap group Die Antwoord, who for reasons that defy all reason in the universe have been cast as the principal actors in the movie. They kidnap Deon and his robot (they need to do ‘one last heist” to pay off a debt, and believe kidnapping Deon will give them a “remote” to turn off the robot police since TVs have remotes and so robots obviously do too), name him Chappie, and teach him their ways of gangsta. “ZEF” has been spraypainted all over the set’s walls, Die Antwoord’s particular brand of bizzaro music constantly beats in the background, they wear Die Antwoord clothes, dress like Die Antwoord does in their videos, and, essentially, play themselves. Ninja and Yolandi are their names, who Chappie calls “Daddy” and “Mommy.” When Chappie is first turned on, he acts like a child (there’s some vague themes about robots becoming family a la Blade Runner, but they’re so abstractly hinted at they might not be there at all.)

Chappie is a hundred million dollar music video for Antwoord. Who thought financing a movie about these two strange as hell musicians raising a robot as their gangsta surrogate kid should never finance another movie again. And, full disclosure, I love Die Antwoord. Ninja has been falsely accused of giving a terrible performance, but this is a false criticism. He doesn’t act at all. He just plays himself. Yolandi has an ethereal maternal presence that draws the eye, and, if you can stomach believing it, grounds most of the movie. She’s the only believable part of a thoroughly unbelievable movie.

No part of Chappie makes sense, from its non-themes about police states (the police went from robotically following orders to being literal robots-hurhurhur), to lines, to motivations, to the story, to even how it got made. Watching Chappie is a chaotic mindfuck that defies explanation or category. Zimmer’s score is the only aspect that works in a traditional sense, but what’s so strange, what I, even as I type this right now, can’t understand, is that Chappie completely works non-traditionally. It’s a terrible movie with terrible everything, but its loyal and even stubborn commitment to utter irrationality slowly overwhelmed me with a kinetic chaos that can only be called freeing. Chappie is a liberating, misconceived project on every level, devoutly mad and indirectly engaging. To borrow a phrase from Birdman, Chappie demonstrates the unexpected virtue of ignorance. It is, so far, my favorite film of 2015.

D+

Please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or RSS below: