First CHAPPIE trailer introduces the world and wonder of Neill Blomkamp’s latest

Chappie trailer teases newest in robot transcendence trend

It seems like there’s been an uptrend lately in robotic revolution movies (Automata, Ex Machina), and the latest to join the hit-or-miss genre is Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie. The movie has been billed as a comedy, but the first trailer for Chappie paints it as something much bigger. Coming from the director of District 9 and Elysium, and with an artificial protagonist voiced by long-time Blomkamp collaborator Sharlto Copley, the movie looks like it’s aiming to inject a little heart into what’s become a paint-by-numbers sci-fi concept.

Watch the intriguing first trailer for Chappie, and check out the film’s first poster, after the jump!

Hopefully it’s just the the trailer, but for some reason hearing Sharlto Copley’s voice coming from a robot trying to act cool just sounded a little…off. As strange as it sounds, the Blomkamp visuals are on full display, and that’s enough to at least keep my spark of curiosity burning a little longer. From the first poster (below) it looks like our innocent little Chappie might not be as innocent as he seems, so here’s hoping Blomkamp’s third feature film helps reel in his fans who fell off the boat somewhere around Elysium.

Here’s an official plot synopsis for Chappie to fill us in on what to expect:

Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy.  Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings – some good, some bad – and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man.  But there’s one thing that makes Chappie different from anyone else: he is a robot. The first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. His life, his story, will change the way the world looks at robots and humans forever.

On the surface, it sounds like nothing terribly new. Fingers crossed that’s not the case!

Chappie stars Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Sigourney Weaver, Dev Patel, Jose Pablo Cantillo and the South African rap-rave duo Die Atwoord (Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er). The film makes its way to theaters in the UK on March 6, 2015 and in the US on March 27, 2015.