Neill Blomkamp maintains his trademark style of tying a thought-provoking plot to an explosive piece of entertainment with 'Chappie'.
As he did with 'District 9' and 'Elysium', South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp wants to combine thrills and thoughtful issues in his new movie 'Chappie'. His goal, he says, is to "change the lens through which a person looks at something. But you have to do that without violating the reason that someone paid for a ticket in the first place."
Chappie is played by Sharlto Copley - a longtime collaborator of Blomkamp's
In other words, while all three films include strong political statements, "they're also pieces of entertainment, and if they don't work on that level then they don't work period," he said. "Filmmakers need to remember that audiences go to the cinema to escape for two hours, not to be lectured to. If you really have a message you need to get across, you're better off making a documentary."
More: Read The Review For 'Chappie'
'Chappie' centres on the issue of artificial intelligence, and Blomkamp draws a line between what he calls "weak" AI and "strong" AI. "Weak artificial intelligence is like a computer system that follows a list of protocols to give 'yes' or 'no' answers that can be as complex as you want," he said. "And then you have strong AI, which is basically like a human who can think up a thought that's never been thought up, paint a painting or write a poem."
Watch The Trailer For 'Chappie' Here:
This level of creative consciousness hasn't yet been achieved outside of the movies, but Blomkamp knows that it's coming, although perhaps not in our lifetime. "We don't know the nature of consciousness, whether it becomes a spiritual and philosophical discussion or whether it's simply running electrical currents through synapses," he said. "It's probably the most fundamental question that humans can ask, and I think that's the reason that we constantly keep asking it."
More: Chappie And His Artificial Intelligence Grace New Trailer
But he's positive about the future. "If strong AI really is intelligence like us or beyond us," he said, "then it may just wipe us out. But it's more likely to be something that actually makes life better for everyone, and it may enlighten us in a way that humans can't."
More: Is 'Chappie' a Blip on Neill Blomkamp's Previous Unblemished Record?
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