Merging familiar with the fantastic

DEV PATEL (left) and Hugh Jackman in “Chappie”

MANILA,Philippines—A pervading quality that’s distinctly his pervades Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi films. From the Earth-based alien community in “District 9” to the social-class divide in “Elysium,” there is a merging of the familiar with the fantastic, depicting urban blight alongside flashy, super-advanced technology.

That’s present in “Chappie,” about a genius inventor, Deon (Dev Patel), who creates artificial intelligence and, under duress, bestows it on an automaton.

Held hostage by thugs Ninja and Yolandi (music duo Watkin Tudor Jones and Yolandi Visser), who wish to depower the powerful and efficient robot policemen of Johannesburg, Deon gives consciousness to a damaged robo-cop unit.

Named Chappie by Yolandi, the robot (voiced by Sharlto Copley) is almost human, with child-like innocence. The criminals “raise” Chappie against Deon’s wishes, essentially molding him into a weapon and an accomplice.

Parent-offspring theme

“Chappie,” though not as emotive or deep as Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film “A.I.,” manages to move the viewer with similar parent-offspring themes. The “adopted” child of the genuinely affectionate “mom” Yolandi and the demanding “dad” Ninja, grows up fast in mere weeks—a surreal journey, to be sure, but not without problematic junctures.

The film gets uninteresting from time to time. Hugh Jackman as the office bully—who dreams of innovating the police force with his own overcompensating creation, a bulky war machine—gets tiring pretty quickly.

Sigourney Weaver as his and Deon’s dismissive boss is underused, but the character isn’t much to begin with.

Blomkamp’s penchant for grounded tales about seemingly otherworldly characters and concepts is seen and felt throughout. While it’s no “District 9” at all in terms of impact and originality, “Chappie” is easier to watch than the dragging, disjointed “Elysium.”

The nurture/nature dichotomy is capably presented but, overall, Chappie’s coming-of-age and corresponding shenanigans, despite some likable quirks, are often challenging—in a repetitive, regularly robotic way.