12 Films That Wasted Incredible Potential

After making multiple shorts films, writer and director Neill Blomkamp rose to fame with his first feature length film District 9, which was based on one of his original shorts. His next film, Elysium, would not be as successful, but further demonstrated his ability to make interesting and compelling stories in a gritty and realistic science-fiction setting.

Chappie, at least on paper, seemed like it was going to be more of the same from Blomkamp. Based on another one of his short films, Chappie was about a law enforcement robot in Johannesburg, South Africa, that is uploaded with a new artificial intelligence. The robot is captured by gangsters, who name it Chappie and try to teach it how to fight and stand up for itself.

But what was looking like a new and interesting science-fiction film turned out to be another attempt by a director to try and say something meaningful, without the means to say it in a compelling way.

In the end, Chappie was nothing more than a confusing mix between Short Circuit and Alita Battle Angel, with a story that threw logic out the window on more than one occasion.