District 9 Review

Mild to moderate spoiler review. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

District 9 is good. Is it great? No. But is it worth your ten bucks?

I think it is, for a number of reasons:

1. A sci-fi apartheid, set in the slums of South Africa, where the aliens are treated horribly.
2. A weenie bureaucrat who starts extremely unlikeable, but ends up being a character who you feel genuine empathy towards.
3. Amazing special effects, especially when you consider the small budget.
4. Prawns.
5. Pig Launcher!
6. Extremely violent deaths. In some cases, the death scenes are nearly comical, but when someone’s head explodes like a ripe melon after their head was shocked by a lightning gun, how can you not shockingly chuckle as an audience member?
7. The alien’s eyes. With the prawns being extremely ugly, their eyes needed to show genuine emotion, and they succeeded.

Ok, that’s enough of the list.

So what about the movie?

It’s 1982. An alien ship has decided to plant itself over Johannesberg, South Africa. Nothing comes out of the ship, and eventually humanity breaks into the ship itself.

Inside they find a squalid hell, with aliens living in their own filth. Turns out the prawns are servants of sorts with a hive mind, and their masters died. Without guidance, the prawns are left to fend for themselves.

So the humans decide to bring them down to the surface, and try their best to take care of the aliens.

Humanity, however, is fickle about who they live next to, and in Africa, it is doubly so. The aliens are scrounges, and taken advantage of by the military company MNU, and Nigerians who use a Witch Doctor to try and become like the aliens.

What I find interesting about the initial setup of the movie is the layout as a documentary. It almost feels like a PBS special for a good portion of the film. Sociologists, alien specialists, military minds, politicians, scientists all give their view of what is happening.

So why can’t the aliens leave?

I won’t spoil that, as it is a huge part of the plot. Suffice it to say, it could have worked better, but I’m okay with that.

So who is the bureaucrat weenie?

Wikus something something. His last name is a pain in the ass, and I’m tired and feeling lazy, so if you must know go google it.

Wikus is assigned the task of moving the aliens from their squalid hell to a “nicer” camp outside the city. While there, he discovers alien technology (which is integrated with alien DNA, so humans can’t use the weapons,) and violent prawns who have no desire to leave.

And then all Hell breaks loose.

The last two thirds of the movie are a wild ride, as Wikus transforms as a character being hunted. Along the way, he meets up with two prawns-a father and his son-who simply want to go home.

Together, they try and overcome the MNU, who want so desperately to use the alien technology that they experiment with the prawns, and the Nigerians, who want the same thing.

It is not a typical Hollywood movie ending, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

So did you enjoy it?

Yes. Quite a bit. Science Fiction has fallen on its ass recently (with the exceptions being the Matrix and the latest Star Trek movie) so to see a refreshing take on some clichéd story ideas was invigorating as a sci-fi geek. Neil Blomkamp has a long future in the film industry if this is his initial entry. For those who don’t know, the Halo franchise handed him the keys, thanks to Peter Jackson, but the studios had no desire to hand such a lucrative movie to an unknown director. There was $30 million left before the studios pulled the plug on Halo, so Jackson gave Neil the money and said “go nuts, kid.”

The actor playing Wikus, Sharlto Copley, did an amazing job as his first leading role. He improvised a lot of the lines with the documentary scenes.

So what stopped it from being a great movie?

A couple things.

1. Cinematography. Hollywood needs to get their heads out of their ass and STOP the ShaKEy CamERa. I understand the documentary scenes are meant to feel like a documentary, but for the love of God, why is it when all Hell is breaking loose at the end of the movie, everything is a blurry mess because the camera has to shake?
2. Plot holes. Won’t spoil them here, but there were some I had to question.
3. No character development of any human character outside of Wikus.
4. Occasional pacing issues.
5. Not enough pig launcher.

So go see it if you want to see an original film in a summer of horribleness.