District 9

August 30th, 2009

Human beings are naturally selfish, greedy and deceitful when the need to survive comes. This is what District 9 seems to portray in such a unique style that feels so fresh and disturbing at the same time.

Dubbed as the Cloverfield rip-off or the “should-have-been-halo” film, District 9 is the most unique piece of cinema that I have seen for quite a long time. This makes the film the biggest surprise among all the summer blockbusters to come out this year. Directed by newcomer Neill Blomkamp and presented by Peter Jackson of LOTR fame, D-9 is a film that once again proves that you don’t need famous actors in order to produce a great film.

The film starts out with a documentary film to it. Interviews, random events in the street and public opinions about the sudden appearance of a unidentified flying object over Johannesburg. It was revealed that the UFO was an alien mother-ship that was inoperable and housed around a million aliens on board. The government decides to take them to a military camp which was now named District 9. Later on, District 9 turns into a slum and the alien residences have learned to live amongst themselves as a community where there is crime, social differences with humans and interracial prostitution.

The film later on focuses on Wikus Van De Merwe, an MNU (Multinational United) employee and son-in-law of the head of the said company. He was assigned to head the relocation program for the aliens from District 9 to the new District 10. Something goes wrong during the relocation process and now Wikus is now the most wanted and notorious man in Johannesburg.

The film succeeds in incorporating the aliens into the human way of life not because they start talking or acting like us but because of the social themes that involve racism and the usage of derogatory remarks to the aliens which is “prawns”. The realism of the situation isn’t because of the visual effects or the production set up but because of the reaction of the humans to the existence of these aliens. Rather than befriending the aliens, most of the humans tend to be offended of their existence to the point of having riots against them and not letting them walk among humans in public.

During the first act of the film, it was kind of dragging since they had too much to show about the racial discrimination towards the aliens. The second act was where things start to get interesting and truly show the capability of human greed and deception. The third act which was mainly the part where all the action is shows a lot and one of the best scenes don’t involve a huge explosion but rather the connection between man and alien. The third act shows that not all humans are the same but some can be better or worse than others.

The visual effects were impressive but I do noticed some problems of the rendering of the alien creatures. There were instances where they seemed so out of touch with the world they are in which affects the film’s atmosphere at times. Some of the explosions looked obviously done in CGI, but I was very impressed mostly with the animation of the creatures and of the main highlights of the film which I will not spoil for you.

Sharlto Copley who played Wikus did a great job in the acting department but I can’t say the same for the other actors most especially the overtly war freakish Colonel who seems to too one dimensional and can only show one range of emotion. The interviews seemed authentic enough but some of the interviewees were over-acting a bit too much.

Overall, this is film is a masterpiece. It shows that a great film doesn’t have to have a linear storyline or award winning actors to be appreciated by everybody. There’s a large amount of gore here so that seems to be a fair warning to the faint of heart or people with weak stomachs. The production design is just superbly amazing and the cinematography even if it was shot in hand-held style still was beautiful. During the start of the film, it was quite boring but it ended with high note that can either bring a tear to grown man’s eye or make you ask for more.

[rating:4.5/5] 4.5/5 stars

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