(ethereal music sting)

Okay, everyone who wants to help me

destroy my enemies, raise your hand.

Great, we'll conquer the world

right after I rant about Chappie

and the taxonomy of movie robots

on this week's episode of Angry Nerd.

(whistling of steam)

First, your comments.

AdRockOne responded to my top 10 movies of 2014 list

with this: But wait, Michael Bay released

a new Transformers movie.

Shouldn't it be on here?

AdRock, I'm worried about you.

Are you on some illicit substance?

Do you need me to talk you down or call poison control?

The new robot movie Chappie makes me furious!

The odd capitalization scheme of the title, that is.

It looks like the name of a valley startup,

but everything else about Neill Blomkamp's new flick

looks totally (bleep) boss.

Chappie stars a computer-generated droid

and the trailer proves how much better the CG design

is implemented than in Will Smith's I, Robot.

Ugh, they forgot Asimov's eighth law.

Movie robots should not ape the aesthetic

of first-gen iMacs.

I also liked that Chappie's hero does battle

with the tiresome roles that robots have generally

been relegated to by Hollywood.

You see, there are three species of movie robots.

You have the cutesy servant droids

who perform repairs and dispense comic relief.

Then you have the menacing heavies,

bad guys designed to inflict pain.

And yes, Mechagodzilla counts as a robot.

And finally, you have the robot as childlike naif.

Steel Pinocchioses who gradually learn about

the wonders and horrors of the world.

Hollywood movies are dominated by the first two types,

but the last one is clearly best.

These characters are much more involving and relatable

and movies can use the unique perspective of these bots

to reflect on what it means to be human.

What's that, Chappie's book?

Yeah, it's yours.

Chappie's got stories.

Chappie's got a book.

We need more movies that cast robots

as the wide-eyed outsider.

But the only way we'll get those

is if robot actors refuse to take

the over-familiar stereotyped roles.

I'm talking to you Jeff 1000.

What?

A Wired property?

I don't care if it's a Wired show,

that droid is a 10-ton sellout.

How do you sleep at night, Jeff 1000?

Or, how would you sleep if you were

a biological entity that required sleep?

Hey, hey, are you running an annotation

to Jeff 1000 over me right now?

Knock it off.

I'm not gonna cross-promote for that (bleep).

Yeah, I gotta say I'm a little worried

about the fact that the robot in Chappie

apparently learns how to be human

from the gooney bird members of the rap group Die Antwoord.

I question their credentials.

What, is there a backroom deal between

Blomkamp and the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce

to promote fellow South African artists?

(mechanical whirring)

Yeah, seriously.

Learning how to be human from Ninja and Yolandi

is like learning to write a satisfying third act

from M. Night Shyamalan.

(whistling of steam)

What's your favorite movie robot?

Let me know in the comments and subscribe

to the Wired channel.

Watch my other videos over there.

Robot henchman, can you point to my other videos?

(mechanical whirring) Come on.

Come on.

Yeah.

There.

I knew that you could.

Now, dance a cabbage patch for me.

Oh, that's not the cabbage patch!

No, here, go over here.

Go over.

Attack that comic book.

(beep)

Just point, point over this.

Point.

(laugh)

[Producer] Let's reset it.

Yeah, there we!

Let's reset it. I knew that you could.

(beep)

(mechanical whirring)

That's easy for you to say.

(mechanical whirring)

(beep)

Can we get some tape for him?

He's just, he's not hitting his marks.

(ethereal music sting)