In theaters. Rated R, 113 minutes. Trailer.
A gritty modern day science fiction film, District 9 is entertaining and at times thought provoking. After a huge spaceship arrives and hovers over Johannesburg in the early 1980's, humanity sends in a team that discovers aliens (looking like a mix of a cricket and a human) and then colonizes them in a fenced area (District 9). Analogies and symbolism fly all over the place, but the filmmakers keep it on the level and thankfully don't try to neatly resolve them all during the film. As a noted eye-roller at the whole sci-fi/fantasy genre, I was very skeptical, even with Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson producing the film. Click below for more DISTRICT:
The film opens in a pseudo-documentary/investigation of events that have already occurred involving Wikus Van De Merwe, who was in charge of the eviction and relocation of the aliens (called, derisively, 'prawns') from District 9 when the process went haywire. We learn that since the colonization of District 9 there have been escalating problems between the prawns and humans. As a result the government decides to relocate the prawns to a new area, but have to serve them all with eviction notices pursuant to NIO (basically the UN) regulations. The government turns to Multi National United (MNU) a huge shadowy Halliburton-y type para-military organization/corporation to handle the move.
Wikus is chosen as the director of the effort and is the film's main character and protagonist. His character is instantly sympathetic as an affable guy with a slight edge. As he explains the interactions of the humans/prawns and leads the eviction process, his initial prejudice/disregard for the prawns is evident. His heavy-handed tactics are at odds with his congenial disposition - until he stumbles upon an intelligent prawn ('named' Christopher Johnson) and his son and has an unfortunate interaction with a substance created by the prawn. This interaction renders him a valuable commodity and forces him to seek shelter and assistance from the prawns, Christopher in particular. The remainder of the film has the two of them working together against MNU as their goals become intertwined.
The subject of how the prawns should be treated/regarded is a major theme, but isn't explictly discussed. They aren't human or from our planet, but they are intelligent and aren't (initially) overtly hostile. So, what rights and protections should be imparted to them? Human rights? Citizens of South Africa? Animal rights? The film shows that society has basically pushed the decision off and ended up giving them something approaching United Nations refugee rights. It is the most interesting piece of the film, and draws parallels with refugees, Guantanamo, immigration, racism, and diversity. To the filmmakers credit, these parallels are simply intrinsic to the story, and I didn't find it to be overtly political.
The action sequences are great, with Bride finding them too graphic. I did not, and I typically a 'gore-wenie'. Lots of cool fire fights and alien weaponry, along with a bumbling Wikus to get involved in all of it. The overall film is as realistic as a film like this could be (who am I to say there is no other life in the universe?) and avoids taking the easy way out of several situations. New director Neill Blomkamp uses some creative camera work and quick editing to the give the film a gritty feel and fast pace.
The film ends on an extremely sequel-riffic note, with Wikus fully integrated into the prawn lifestyle as he pines for his wife.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
District 9 - B
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
nice, even review. this gets an A- from me, but it's well-established that i'm much more sympathetic to sci-fi and similar sub-genres than you. the only thing I didn't really like about the film is the way that the average prawn comes across like an idiot, but obviously some of them are brilliant. the fact that Wikus seems to be changed but then appears not to be is interesting. joburg is nicely captured. the shanty towns that the prawns live in are exactly like the ones that i witnessed (and at times went into) there. the black s. africans are almost always in lower positions, with the whites having all the power, so you have three-levels of sentient beings living together. it is jarring and seems inhumane to see the prawns digging through trash to find food-- then we're forced to consider that we allow humans to live this way. i completely agree that the action sequences were phenomenal, especially the one involving the giant AT-AT type thing. this is my favorite movie of the year to date (followed by Adventureland, Harry Potter, and 500 Days of Summer then Up).
I agree about the prawns - most seem dumb/impaired, but others are geniuses. Their intelligence should've been more clearly fleshed out. I really, really like the realistic handling of the aliens. I don't agree with the film's complete agreement with Christopher Johnson's indignance with the alien medical experiments - they're aliens!! The viewer knows that the experiments are only weapon related, but CJ doesn't.
Maybe I expected too much, but I was disappointed. Spoilers ahead.
Some problems:
After Wikus's DNA is fused with the alien DNA, he clearly does not want to fire the guns. With 1.8 million aliens, surely they could have found one sellout to fire the weapons for them. Most of the aliens seemed stupid, with little regard for each other.
Where are the alien women? Are they all the same sex like Enemy Mine? Wikus was photoshopped on some aliens who were presumably female, but the lack of a lead alien female was curious.
The shaky camera bothered me as did the "videogame" style shootout.
You can't buy the premise, because I would have remembered a mothership over South Africa in 1982 when I was a kid. Not sure what the documentary style added. The interviewees just provided exposition without humor or insight.
The coincidence of finding the exact amount of black fluid needed on the exact same day as the eviction notice passouts is too much. It could have happened any day in the past 28 years (dates were 1982 and 2010).
And the magical, unexplainable black fluid is an easy device to propel the story, but takes the movie into science fiction rather than science fact (like the recent Star Trek and the "red matter" or whatever it was called). The realistic style and settings don't mesh with magic black fluid that can alter DNA and provide enough energy to mobilize all the alien crap. (And if Wikus spilled that much on his face, it would seem that they would need more.)
I know, nitpicking a science fiction movie is shameless, but I would not have noticed these things as much if I was involved in the story. Government bureaucracies drive me insane, so the door to door thing in the opening scenes wore me out quick.
Still, good action and more than enough food for thought. B (a low one)
Post a Comment