A very near future cities are submerge in high crime rate, from Chicago, Caracas, Rio de Janiero and Johannesburg. High cost of living, corruption and taxation are the biggest obstacles to make police effective in this cities. The corporation Tetraval offered a very easy solution, "Scouts" this police robot completely design to enforce and reduce crime rate is a big success for this corporation, but like any other company, there is struggle to succeed in the art of weapon and protection endeavor…

This is the setting of the film, Chappie directed Neil Blomkamp (District 9 and Elysium) is the story of Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) is the maker of the "Scouts" a very effective police robot, with the finest technology to solve Johannesburg crime rate, but also make Tetraval company millionaire. Like any other company, their employees compete to make their inventions come alive and be part of the corporation products. That's the case of Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) a ex military who design MOOSE a attack robot that is capable to self transportation and warfare attack. Moore is jealous of Deon and his success with the Scouts.
During a ambush a group of gang members who lost an important quantity of money on a sting, comes with the idea of kidnap Deon and force him to make a Scout a criminal. This comes as a coincidence while Deon steal a deactivated Scout and pretend to use it as a test with chip that creates to makes this robot more human, with a consciousness. Tetraval company don't believe in this project so Deon is just trying to achieve something beyond the corporation ideals of sells weapons. Chappie is the name of Deon's project, his mission, learn from life itself and become a less violent robot.

Chappie comes as a mash up of Paul Verhoeven 1987 Robocop, Disney's Pinocchio and Short Circuit. We have two robot projects so like in Robocop, one more human than the other and also one more lethal than the other. The similarities are so scary because the settings are basically the same. Detroit vs Johannesburg, which one is more violent? Scouts and MOOSE vs Robocop and ED-209 are similar weapons build with the promise of a better and more safer city, but also build with greed from one to another. Deon is the maker of Chappie, like Geppetto was the make of Pinocchio, a wooden toy who wants to be human, but it needs to learn the way of life like Chappie was forced to do the same in order to become a robot criminal. Like any other film robot Chappie learn from the American culture, from He-Man, to the bling-bling this robot learn the bad things of life and will discover that this world is not that beautiful.

Technology in Chappie is what it is vulnerable, limited by energy in a UN-replaceable battery, the human controlling and determine what is worth it, but also how the power of a maternal love and his maker will develop in a pseudo homage to Bjork's "All is Full of Love" music video.

Chappie bring back some of the interesting ideas from District 9, but also become a messy third act trying to justify the evilness of unprepared villains, like Vincent Moore.