MUBI

Sometimes I think that the guys making the trailers in Hollywood are the least talented bunch of morons you could come across. District 9 is an intelligent and moving, yet playful take on the issue of refugees in South Africa (or anywhere else on that matter) and far from being a simple, shock-treatment monster movie. In fact, and this might sound cheesy, the true monsters are the humans, eh ?

The film has an interesting structure and plays out in several acts all of which have different levels of humour, insanity and earnestness about them. The lead character is portrayed by a great actor and makes the film work as he is the axis of human fate that gets tangled up in the ongoings in District 9.

The CGI and effects are pretty interesting for a low-budget film, but I wish there would have been less action scenes towards the end of the film as I do not think they added anything to the feature (they rarely do, do they?), but in this case, there were just placeholders for the real story that was set on pause for that time being.

All in all, a very unusual take on the ‘Alien’ genre and more of a fable and metaphorical tale than anything else. It is refreshing to see a film based in Johannesburg, the backdrop, the actors, the language, the scenery, the political implications all render this much more substantial than your average based in LA or New York kind of dope.

Nice one !
HX

What makes District 9 an instant classic is that is brings together elements seen in other movies but which have never been put together in this particular fashion so that even though there’s a familiarity to certain aspects of it, it never gets boring. Even the setting is perfect and brilliant. That it manages to move seamlessly from docu- or mockumentary to social critique to police procedural to sci-fi-horror- thriller to rock-em-sock-em Hollywood blockbuster is truly incredible. The acting is fantastic and does not take a backseat to the special effects and yet the latter are worthy of applause. In an era of remakes, rehashes, and retreads, the actual crux of the story is truly original. There are a few aspects of the film that kept me from giving it 5-stars (mentioning them would equate to revealing spoilers), but overall I think District 9 should appeal to anyone who enjoys the genre; film buffs looking to see something different created with the medium, visually and narratively; and people who can suspend their initial disbelief long enough to revel in the initial satire. In a rare plus, the film ends satisfactorily while leaving the door open for a sequel that could go in a million different directions. With any luck they’ll get it as right as this one.

South Africa in the apartheid years was not much different than its depiction in District 9, the title itself an evocation of Cape Town’s infamous District 6. In a nation divided by race, the white population dominated the businesses while the black majority was relegated to slums.
In this parable there is a third group, a race of extraterrestrials stranded in Johannesburg while their mother ship hovers lifelessly over the city. They are repulsive creatures, with scaly skin, crawling tentacles, and a taste for cat food. But at least they give black South Africans someone to look down upon.
It isn’t surprising that fate stranded this alien ship over Johannesburg instead of Manhattan if we are to take it as a metallic guardian angel from above bringing forth change in a disharmonious country. But change is often greeted with hostility and the aliens are dumped into shanty slums where they are routinely abused by humans and prohibited from entering areas designated humans only.
Not everyone who enjoys District 9 may be familiar with South Africa’s shameful past, but a sense of honest geopolitical presentation hangs over the film; so much so, in fact, that the documentary style filming is more than a gimmick. Director Neill Blomkamp offers an allegory of South Africa true to how he remembers it in a movie that is as much a shocking factual revelation of a forgotten past as it is science-fiction. The unusual motivation and circumstances behind District 9 have helped create a film like no other. Its boldness and originality paid off, making it one of the best films of 2009. Audiences took note. Tellingly, Peter Jackson’s name in the production credits seems to have had little to do with its success.
Whenever alien beings come to Earth, they are lucky enough to meet at least one reasonable human authority figure. Wikus (Sharlto Copley) is as much a brute as any of the other government officials assigned to relocate the creatures, but we have his vantage point and it doesn’t take long to realize that he is merely his father-in-law’s puppet. He’s not the sharpest tool, but he is our best bet. Eventually, he too will be betrayed by humanity and will realize how alien his own race seems to him.
If this makes District 9 sound like a humorless bit of self-important independent filmmaking, it’s not. There are times when the movie is intentionally funny and is ok with audiences laughing. It knows how to have fun and delivers some high-octane action.
Telling a story he felt he needed to tell, Blomkamp made an original movie with much to admire.
His Johannesburg is an ugly city, both politically and aesthetically. These are the worst kind of slums, where gang lords control the markets and violence is an inescapable way of life.
Even as science-fiction, the movie’s secondary nature, District 9 breaks new ground. As the trailer indicated using footage unseen in the final film, the aliens don’t want a war. They simply want to fix their ship and go home. Aliens wishing Earthlings no against Earthlings is not an unheard of idea. For once, however, benign aliens are not the cause of awe but repulsion. They aren’t even granted any of the fabled advanced technology aliens are said to have and can’t even fix their own ship in twenty years. Instead, they have been humanized and given human names, making the treatment of the beings all the more appalling.
By the end our sympathies are with the ugly creatures. Only by transforming into an alien, (after being infected with its serum) does Wikus change sides. The military company led by his authoritative father-in-law shuns him and Wikus finds himself on the run from the same officials he had led in the alien relocation project. But his morphing body is now valuable to the scientists at the company who refuse to give up on such a valuable specimen for science testing.
Parables are often dumb and blunt. No one will confuse District 9 of being subtle, but Blomkamp’s sincerity cannot be denied. He uses it to make an entertaining film with a substantial thematic core. It’s thoughtful and provocative in a way that few other summer blockbusters are.
Even the ending doesn’t bring the arc to a full closure. Things still need to be resolved and promises fulfilled, but a sequel seems an unlikely venue. That, in fact, may be the subtlest allegory District 9 makes. Apartheid, as it was, is unlikely to be duplicated but the problems it spun are far from over. Time will tell if the promise of a united South Africa will be remembered.

Title: District 9
Year: 2009
Country: USA, New Zealand
Language: English, Nyanja
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writers: Neil Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Cast:
Sharlto Copley
Jason Cope
William Allen Young
David James
Vanessa Haywood
Louis Minnaar
Nick Blake
Rating: 7/10

DISTRICT 9 is the final film of 2009 Oscar BEST PICTURE nominated films I saw (what a relief!), nevertheless I still hold the opinion that it is unwise to double the numbers as an awkward truth is that at least half of these films are plainly fillers (for example, this one), it only makes the ceremony longer and offers these fillers some popularity.

It seems to me that DISTRICT 9 is an overrated film, surely it has its own singular novelties such as its pseudo-documentary shooting, low-budget cost (30 millions) and carries an indie halo to subvert the Alien Vs. Human platitude. The story brings to the audience an intensely compact experience after 20 minutes until the end, but all the set pieces are far from innovative (for example 1. the most unimaginable way to take back the fluid in the lab is to snatch it simply like what the film shows; 2. the evasive usage of the precious fluid whose small amount takes a whole 20 years to produce, of course the background of these prawns is eschewed as well; 3. the stereotyped design of the villainous military man, to kill prawns without a cause as he is just loving to do so), unfortunately it’s only breath-taking rather than mind-blowing.

The low-budget quality also hampers the film from taking a more grande scale to see the alien sides (the mothership), in which fans are mostly interested. Another flaw is the ending, maybe they did run out of money, which is nothing to complain, it ends hastily without a clue of what will happen next (a sequel is promisingly under the way I suppose). Actually if we substitute any other disadvantaged group (the poor, the disabled, the distorted, etc.) with these prawns in the film, the film is able to remain intact, maybe less fun. The political attitude is obvious but I feel numb about it since it is banal.

As his full-length debut, one must admit Neill Blomkamp has done a great job, his future is bright (should thank Peter Jackson too), I am looking forward to his new project, however I sincerely wish him that the best is yet to come.

PS: After seeing all 10 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES, I would replace STAR TREK with DISTRICT 9 and A SINGLE MAN with A SERIOUS MAN, period.

South African 3D animator and Neill Blomkamp (“Dark Angel” & “Smallville”) teams-up with New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings” & “King Kong”) to make his feature debut, after the two failed to gain funding for their “Halo” adaptation, with this reworking of his 2005 short “Alive in Joburg”

South African actor Sharlto Copley, who had previously appeared in “Alive in Joburg”, puts in a superb performance in his feature debut, whish would win him the coveted role of Capt. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock in “The A-Team” movie, whilst Jason Cope heads a supporting cast that includes Eugene Khumbanyiwa, David James, William Allen Young and Louis Minnaar.

The filmmaker begins in mockumentary style that gives the film a gritty and realistic aesthetic closer to the hardcore sci-fi movies of the 80s rather than the modern CGI blockbusters, the Joburg setting also aids this unique aesthetic and adds an uncomfortable frission to the satirical elements based on real apartheid-era events, but all is let down by a run-of-the-mill final act.

“Get your fokkin’ tentacle out of my face!”

The South African apartheid allegory falls flat, especially when equating the oppressed. The “prawns” are not human after all. One could defend the director’s heritage, and the film’s setting in his native Johannesburg, but I don’t buy it. The man is a white 29 year-old.

At its best the film highlights the dangers of bureaucracy and its inherent silliness. One sequence culminates with the scientific and bodily horrors of putting advanced alien bioweapons in human hands. I haven’t seen such poignant illustration of the system since Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, and found the scene deeply, affectingly relevant.

District 9 sparks the imagination thanks to its (probably) realistic depiction of an alien race and the events following their arrival, both in situation and visuals, but its exposition-free documentary style ultimately leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. Inquisitive people though, are hardly a bad thing.

Okay… coming out of the movie theatre, after seeing district 9, I said to my friends I had to post something on The Auteurs about this movie. So I’m finally doing it :
I wanted to see district because I had read somewhere I would be a great movie directed by a man I didn’t new but produced by the “great” oscar winning Peter Jackson.
So I saw it and… I gotta say that I think september’s U.S. big blockbuster wasn’t that great at all.
there are a lot of good things in it, like the beginning filmed as a documentary, but then this idea is forgotten and we will only see it again for about 3mn in the end.
It had great ideas of weapons throwing flesh all around… but it’s too much…
Another thing : is it done on purpose that Wikus is such a retard? come on, call his wife, and the metal flower thing in the end…
in conclusion I’d say this movie was just overbuzzed.

PS : Sorry that my english isn’t so goo, but I’m french…

DISTRICT 9 surely gonna get one spot from me a nominee for the most overrated movie of 2009,spot on.yep,this one didn’t get all the expectation.some says its “suprisingly original”,“somewhat unpredictable”,“thought provoking”bla bla bla.hmm,original?no,the documentary style is just soo cloverfield.unpredictable?again,no.i could already guess the fate of wikus,the main character,just 30 minutes into the movie."though-provoking?well,the idea of the bad thing of prejudice is also already out of date(see snow falling on cedars or atonement).the only revelation in DISTRICT 9 is the sheer brilliance of Sharlto Copley,an acting debutante,as the main protagonist Wikus.its rarely i see “tour de force performance”come along with “sci-fi”.this one is one of a few.Copley, that man, i could see his DISTRICT 9 is a beginning of a wonderful carrer ahead.oh,and the effect.the effects are really good,considering the budget is ‘only’ $30 million,but it is feels like a $100 million production.but it is not a surprise though,as peter jackson is the one i know who can use the special effect very efficiently

Perhaps the surprise summer film to close the season.

DISTRICT 9 is an incredible satirical film about fantastic racism, corporate greed, redemption, injustice and justice, all culminating in what is perhaps an amazing display of pyrotechnics and special effects.

I suppose I should start off by saying that for me, DISTRICT 9 seemed to come out of nowhere, even though it seemed to have a viral marketing campaign and was even based on the director’s short film.

In any case, Peter Jackson serves as producer for Neill Blomkamp’s film, reportedly meant to be a HALO adaptation. Instead, we perhaps got something much better.

DISTRICT 9 has more in common with a Peter Watkins fantasy than most contemporary sci-fi blockbusters, which, at first, sounds mind-bogglingly impossible. But, of course, it’s not!

Like CLOVERFIELD, DISTRICT 9 employs a rather avant-garde technique to tell its story: that is, it is almost completely presented in the form of a massive action news report/documentary. It starts out like a clip show of various interviews with experts, reporters, and certain individuals until by the end, the framing device is almost completely abandoned for the story.

The story is question is quite brilliant really.

One day, a massive spaceship appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Everyone was excited for “first contact”. Instead, what they find is shit.

Millions of insectoid beings, starving and in poor health are discovered by humans. Despite the audience’s wonder, the film deliberately diminshes the awe by hitting the viewer with more and more interviews with distanced images (at first) of the “prawns” (as they are soon dubbed, because, you know, “they look like that…”).

Pretty soon, things take a turn for the worse. The prawns are detained by the thousands in a horrible shanty-town, named DISTRICT 9, sequestered from humans, forbidden to indulge in any human activities, forced to use much more inferior facilities.

The prawns are almost immediately exploited from all sides, white and black, corporate and illegal, and eventually there is small-scale chaos in Johannesburg.

This is where the main story enters: Wikus van der Merwe, a nebbish, annoying, hard-headed and obnoxious suit that works for the general congolmerate MNU, is sent (for maybe/actually nefarious reasons) to re-locate all the prawns to a bigger area, DISTRICT 10. The reloation, needless to say, turns disastrous, as there is accidental and deliberate murders on both side, un-cooperative prawns, and the like.

Things are actually going completely according to plan. That is, until a special vial filled with the “liquid”, engineered by a prawn named “Christopher Johnson”. Before he could be evicted, Wikus found a vial which sprayed him in the face.

From then on, he experiences a transformation…and slowly becomes the very thing he hates! Soon, it gets worse. His own people turn against him and are in fact very willing to dissect, prod and exploit his unique genetic mutation for military purposes.

Wikus escapes, and the rest of the film becomes an aesop about understanding, self-awareness…and blowing things up. Seriously. It’s awesome too. Catching bullets and grenades getting lodged in evil warlord’s heads is pretty crazy too. All done with aplomb and glee, because the villains are ones you love to hate.

In the end, he must find Christopher, figure out what’s going on and set right what once went wrong…

The film is interesting for a most obvious reason: the entire crux of the plot, that is, the prawns and the mutation, are essentially metaphors, not highly veiled ones either, for the general idiocy that occurs when one race proclaims itself to be superior to another, and then proceeds to beat the life out of another culture. The resulting chaos that ensues is explained to be both nigh-impossible to solve quickly in any sort of efficient way.

It soon becomes clear that this “fantastic racism” is representative of any culture. Ironically, the aliens are still more advanced, intelligent and clever than us, and in the end, when the time comes, we will get what’s coming to us. Poetic justice indeed.

Perhaps the more difficult point raised by the film is that this horrible contempt for others is just as easily shared by the next discriminated people. Anyone is a better scape goat than themselves, right? The Prawns are in turn, utterly devastated by the horrific exploitation done by the Nigerian warlords and gangsters. Fortunately, they’re evil, so…yeah…

The art direction is magnificent, perfectly representing a slum that really, any trodden-down nation can inhabit. They’re no favelas, but then again, the favelas aren’t so nice either. The logos, the products, the signage and the graphics used to create this strange world are ingeinious. The prawn-sign used in the poster should be a clear tip-off of the importance of detail in this film.

The special effects are also wondrous. In fact, since they are so integrated with story, you don’t really notice them. The single biggest problem with CGI is solved in DISTRICT 9. Everything is in service of plot and meaning. Of course, this is a movie, so there’s lots of wish-fulfillment and the like. Alien guns? Check. Aliens with several arms that do end up tearing up a victim? (don’t worry, he deserved it) Check. Giant robots? Check. Lots of explosions? Check, check and check. Not that that’s a bad thing. It isn’t.

In fact, most of the action scenes are incredibly well done, especially towards the end where Wikus eventually stops being a coward and does what he was born to do…as a prawn that is. What, you expected a happy ending? You fools!

Okay, so it’s a bittersweet ending, and the audience certainly has to earn it, but nothing feels too out of place or ridiculous. Or if it seems ridiculous, then the filmmakers certainly don’t care if you feel that way. The picture is taken with a certain degree of seriousness that never becomes pretentiousness. Laughable concepts are played for laughs. Serious things are serious. Tragedy is uber-tragic. Violence is ultra-violent. Kinetecism is crazy kinetic. If there’s one thing about the movie that’s admirable, it’s that it never short-changes the audience.

Perhaps the kicker is that the actors are particularly brilliant, especially Wikus. His complete transformation from a horribly inept, nerdy, and indifferent yes-man to jerk with a heart of gold is utterly convincing. But who else gives the best performance but the prawns themselves? Christopher Johnson is the most sympathetic character. Totally helped by the fact that, you know, the prawns are brutalized most of the time. But don’t worry, Chris gets his revenge.

I keep hearing that the film was made on a relatively low budget. You could’ve fooled me. It looks fantastic. The prawns are real-looking. The action scenes are huge. It’s marvellous. The power of a vision (or maybe Peter Jackson’s pocketbook…who knows…) is quite mysterious indeed.

Perhaps my only complaint is that I was hoping for a sequel. Who knows? Maybe Peter Jackons won’t leave us hanging and will produce…well, I can’t quite say, because, really, you should all just see the movie.

Is it a plug? Of course. Then again, it is a damn good movie.

Brilliant movie from 1st time director Blomkamp. Successfully weaves a masterful sci fi story for the 00’s featuring many of todays world concerns and trends from the immense ongoing problems in the world with refuge (Fugee) status, relief, poverty, issues for them. Racism, biotech engineering, global arms industry, and geopolitical themes are all touched on and feature in a believable way in the movie.

It also incorporates some wonderful recreations of weapons on the big screen that todays gamer generation are well familar with (ala Half Life, Halo etc just some that spring to mind). Linked with the underlying theme that humanity in whatever shape or form can win out.

Easily one of the best movies of the summer and perhaps this year.

Makes me all the more keen to see what Mr Blomkamp could have done with Halo.

District 9 is the offspring of Peter Jackson’s protege, Neill Blomkamp, a man of South African descent who weaves together an allegorical tale of apartheid, with extra-terrestrial beings who are the ones being subjected. I enjoy science fiction, and it’s been a while since a good sci-fi picture has hit the big screen (I have yet to see Moon). Aside from Moon, when was the last time a great sci-fi came out? Danny Boyle’s Sunshine? Sunshine was a great mix of hard science that was outweighed by the Hollywood cliche ending, but nevertheless I still like it. Point being, it’s rare that good sci-fi comes out now-a-days. Needless to say I was pretty excited to see this.

Like Cloverfield before it, you need to see District 9 on the big screen to fully experience it. The film starts off with the faux-documentary style promised by the trailers, but soon drops off after about twenty minutes or so into a full-fledged sci-fi narrative. This is where things start to pick up, as the Multinational United (MNU) plan a mass exodus that involves evicting thousands of aliens out of their homes to a newer, safer location, a location that strongly resembles a concentration camp.

District 9 has many elements that work in its favor. It features an unknown cast to help provide authenticity, and the cast isn’t bad at all. The photography is a bit grainy, and the use of CG for the aliens is great. The CG looks slightly faded and dull, as if it’s been worn out, but that, in combination with the grainy footage help to give it more of a “stock footage” feeling, which fits perfectly into this faux-doc. It contained themes that I enjoy, such as contagion, and put it in a sci-fi setting. What’s cooler than that?!? Long live the Prawn flesh!

I do like me some sci-fi action, especially on a James Cameron level, and I feel that District 9 fulfilled me needs. We get to see a huge array of alien weapons, including an instrument of destruction that slightly resembles Half-Life’s gravity gun. And holy crap! That Prawn mech suit was sweet! It provided the audience with lots of human-exploding fun. Seriously, this is how Spielberg’s War of the Worlds should have played out, with gooey human entrails exploding everywhere.

All in all District 9 is good, campy alien fun. People who dig the Halo video game series will dig this (Blomkamp directed the in-game movies between the levels). It’s not perfect (after the firefight in the MNU laboratory basement where our hero and his alien comrade steal the container, the alien makes a bomb, blows out a wall, and they end up in the parking garage where the jump into a vehicle and drive off. Where did they get the keys for it?!?) but the flaws, in my opinion, are very few and little. It’s an enjoyable experience, one that will hopefully be remembered for a long time.

I’ve been reading a lot of the negative reviews and complaints about this film, and I have to say they’re valid even as I enjoyed the film. But that’s if you try to dissect it as an “auteur” film or art film, which isn’t fair because that was never its objective. I think it was Roger Ebert who said that he feels a film should only be evaluated based on what it is trying to be. In this case, it’s a summer blockbuster with a message… and in that respect, it delivers plenty.

This isn’t the first sci-fi film to draw parallels between inter-species prejudices and inter-racial tensions (“Alien Nation”, “Enemy Mine”, to name a couple) yet it seems fresh because it is cleverly set in Johannesburg. In other SF movies, aliens seem to choose national capitals of G7 nations as their landing sites — one wonders if they watch CNN. The protagonist isn’t a straightforward hero. There are moments of cowardice or selfishness when you can almost hate him. Those are shades of grey that I appreciate from a good storyteller. The film uses situations of peril quite a lot, which is an easy way to generate suspense. The final conflict is admittedly low in substance if you stop to think about it. For a popcorn movie, it’s just right.

Let’s not forget also that this is Neill Blomkamp’s first feature film. For a first effort, this is pretty darned good.

I really did not want to see this film but decided to give it a chance (i became a little more interested after watching the short). i was mostly afraid of it being too preachy, because you could tell ,from the trailers, that there was going to be some sort of racial undercurrent bubbling throughout the film…surprisingly, it wasn’t as preachy as i anticipated.

I think the film was decent, it wasn’t mind blowing or emotionally shattering,still, it was pretty cool. i think that the story and idea are completely original, which is nice to see in newer film and the hand held camera gave it a more personal feel (i am a sucker for the hand held now). I disagree with the notion that the characters were unlikeable. i was surprised that i actually felt something for Christopher Johnson and his son, and i was rooting for them to succeed.

Although i enjoy high-brow film where i need to really think and pay attention, i think to fully appreciate film, if not life, you need to be able to let go. District 9 was a film that i had no expectations for and i just let myself get immersed in the story, no matter what it was going to be. i find it odd that some people are critiquing District 9 as if they were expecting it to be the next Citizen Kane or Seventh Seal. let movies be movies and don’t worry about what you are going to or not going to get out of the film cognitively.

A solid sci-fi/action/bio-horror movie. While the social commentary on apartheid or immigration or gun control was certainly obvious, it wasn’t too heavy-handed. Nor particularly effective since it acts more as narrative device than anything “important”. What I enjoyed most about the film was the overall look. The grimy and gooey atmosphere kept the events of the movie all the more captivating, as opposed to the more polished science fiction that studios might pump out. While I’m generally ambivalent to films with a reliance on special effects, the use of CGI in District 9 is outstanding and seamless.

The overall film started off strong with a great bumbling lead performance by Sharlto Copley, intriguing sets, good use of mockumentary storytelling (though eventually sloppily abandoned) and tense storytelling that helped set aside some potentially large plot holes. Unfortunately, the third act couldn’t live up to the first two and relied too much on more standard action film habits. Still, a fun movie where I’ll chose to appreciate its very well-executed first two-thirds over its weaker final moments.

With Peter Jackson involved as producer, it was nice to see a return to his more splattery roots (which I find infinitely more interesting than the epic stuff he does now).

Can we all agree that the demise of Halo the movie could possibly be one of Hollywood’s greatest moves in the past two years? Sure, Peter Jackson was behind the scenes and his handpicked, first-time director Neil Blomkamp was crafting some pretty nifty test footage, but would the studio machine have left their vision intact? I’m hard-pressed to say yes. Instead, however, that failure led to Jackson’s funding of an original screenplay for his new buddy Neil, titled District 9, that would eventually take the world by storm—first in an intricately laid out marketing plan; internet generated buzz that spread like wildfire; and ultimately the coveted number one movie in America designation. All this for a movie without a star or a proven auteur, and yet it made almost 10 million dollars more than its budget in only three days. Well, let me be the newest person to say welcome to Neil Blomkamp; I hope you decide to stick around for a while.

Remember those great Mechwarrior-like short films that sprang up as a sort of resume reel when Jackson shone the light onto this South African filmmaker? No? Okay, well maybe I’m that much of a geek, but everything he did in those test shoots has been brought to the big leagues with the precision and handling of a seasoned professional. Taking place in the Johannesburg slum of District 9, the quartered off area housing our alien “visitors” since 1982, the film is shot documentary style as the MNU, (Multi-National United), go through the process of relocating them to a safer place outside the city—safer for the South African citizens that is. The section of land has become a cesspool of these “prawns” as they scavenge, fight, and barter with the local Nigerian crimelords, trading their highly sophisticated weaponry, (that can’t be used by humans due to their biological components), for the delicacy that is cat food. Think Alien Nation meets Cloverfield in a story about race relations and you’ll begin to comprehend the vision put forth. I’ll just say the locale of Blomkamp’s hometown for this tale is not coincidental … the Apartheid allusions are fairly obvious to see.

Graphically, the design at work is pretty stellar—an alien icon has been created and the military, private businesses, and whomever else have utilized it in order to show who is welcome, or, in other words, to portray the racism at hand. District 9 has become a militarized zone for two decades, pretending to be one looking out for their safety, but really just a slice of land to keep them where they can be observed. The ship that brought them to Earth has been immobilized and their stay deemed indefinite. Discovered malnourished and scared, the South African government brought them down to the surface and even learned their language. It was never to assimilate and educate, however, but only to understand, hope to steal their technology, and capture them for medical experiments. The MNU isn’t only an establishment for the safe keeping of societal bliss over the fence; no, it is also one of the leading manufacturers of weaponry and military goods. Everyone has an ulterior motive; it’s the name of the game.

Caught in the middle of it all is Wikus Van De Merwe, played with poise and experience by Sharlto Copley. It is his only credited role for which I can see and man does it deliver. At first a simple pawn married to the MNU head’s daughter, he can appear to be a bit on the dull end of sharp, yet his face is never without a smile, endearing him to his men. He is assigned to head up the eviction committee that will go door to door and serve each prawn its notice of relocation. Followed by a cameraman and accompanied by a new trainee, as well as a soldier he knows, the foursome start their rounds and discover hidden arms holdings, understanding aliens, hostile aliens, and new technology that can only be nefarious. The opening remarks by interviewees alludes to an incident involving Witkus, one that many can’t believe he partook in, one that may or may not have resulted in his death due to the multiple uses of the past tense. It doesn’t take long before the catalyst to these new feelings of hatred and sorrow for a man loved by all occurs, bringing him into a world of darkness, but also one of understanding—putting his differences aside to work with the aliens. For someone with a clear hatred of the prawn kind, he still sees them as more that just an animal. One can’t deny their intelligence or the fact of their cognitive abilities, making them possibly more advanced than humanity itself.

It is Copley that makes the film what it is through his evolution as a man. The transformation he takes from a weak idealist cowering from the army man who is technically in his control to the confident fighter willing to risk his life for the cause of moral righteousness is unavoidable. You won’t believe at the end when cuts to his later self are juxtaposed with earlier footage before the relocation program that they are the same person. War can do funny things to a man, especially when the sides are blurred and the idea of what’s right and wrong becomes flipped. As his counterpart, however, mention needs to be made for the amazing visual effects. The aliens he encounters are rendered beautifully and fit in their environments as though they are real flesh and blood. Blomkamp even finds room to include one of his Mechwarrior-esque creations as an alien-made suit. These creatures show emotion and seamlessly integrate with the live actors to make the plausibility of everything happening real.

District 9 asks the question of how far we as a race will go for power. If a technology is discovered that is so advanced it can only be used by the enemy, to what lengths can one be willing to live with in order to adopt its use for ourselves? What if one of us is inexplicably turned into a hybrid creature, one with the humanity necessary to fight for good but the biology to use those weapons that are destroying us? Would the government help that person and treat him with respect and worth, or would they look upon him as an abomination, valuable only as a control subject to be poked, prodded, and eventually dismembered in an effort to mass produce? You’d like to think that as a people we have evolved to the point where compassion and understanding can trump any fears and insecurities we may have, but history begs to tell a different story. Throughout time we have oppressed and experienced the drive for power and leadership. By using a legion from another far away planet, Blomkamp has put a mirror up to the world, showing it its true colors. Can a movie make a difference? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, the political undertones are there to make viewers think afterwards and the action packed journey of a man without a home keeps them in their seats with a riveting and thrilling tale told through a singular vision. See Hollywood? Sometimes fresh new ideas can not only push the limits of the medium, but also become huge critical and financial successes.

District 9 is one of the most original films I’ve seen in a while regarding plot, and while I was very impressed with the first half of the film, I felt as though the second half, or last third rather, suffered from way too much action, slightly skewing the point of what the director was trying to say about segregation, racism and violence towards man in general. In a film that’s striving for understanding and peace, I found there to be entrails covering the lens of the camera for almost the entire length of the finale, a confusing choice for what this film was trying to do. I don’t know why they decided to commercialize the end, because they had a very dark, semi-realistic and very well executed plot up until the 30 minute firefight towards the end, but I’ve gotta say among the films that usually come out this time of year, you could do a hell of a lot worse.