Review: District 9
Review: District 9
A landmark film that is part sci-fi, part action, and even a little black comedy.
District 9, from first time director Neill Blomkamp, is a thought-provoking, violent, and shocking film, and is arguably one of the best of the year.
District 9 tells the story of Wikus Van De Merwe (newcomer Sharlto Copley), a office drone working for MNU, Multi-National United, a large government organization centered in Johannesburg, South Africa, where a group of aliens landed twenty eight years prior. The action kicks into high gear when Wikus (pronounced “Vikis”) is promoted to lead the project to hand out eviction notices to the aliens, who are called Prawns by most humans, because of their crustacean-like appearance.
District 9 succeeds in that its focus is not on special effects, but on story telling, as it should be. While all of the special effects are top-notch, and are courtesy of Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital, they do are not flashy and overdone they way they have been in some more recent summer fare. The special effects are grounded in this film’s reality, and are at their jaw dropping best when various alien weaponry is used Jackson’s signature splattercore brand of violence, which always lends itself to the darkest form of comedy. There is something fundamentally satisfying about seeing the head of a black market arms trader explode with fantastically messy results. Additionally the creature effects are done in such a way to anthropomorphize the non-human characters without venturing into adorable ET or grating Jar Jar territory. The aliens are still alien; they are not supposed to be all that easy to identify with. The only exception to this might be alien protagonist Christopher’s son, the plucky tech genius, who almost becomes too cute, but straddles the line well.
The allegory of apartheid is another strong point in the film. While the racial tension that still exists in South Africa is never explicitly mentioned, it doesn’t necessarily need to in order for the average viewer understand what Blomkamp is attempting to do. It is a sad fact of human nature for us to disenfranchise any population whom we feel is “less than”, and this fact remains the same whether we are talking about racial tensions in South Africa or illegal immigrants in California. This is an example of what Science Fiction is at its best. Science Fiction, when done right, tells us more about ourselves than anything else, which is part of the reason that shows like the new Battlestar Galactica enough were important enough to merit a discussion at the United Nations which resulted in a change to the UN Charter.
Perhaps the most profound illustration of this is a bit more than half way through the movie, after an accident allows Wikus to use the alien weaponry, a turn events which reveals the much darker side of MNU, making them more akin to something like Halliburton than the United Nations. In what seems like an updated version of something out of A Clockwork Orange, Wikus is strapped into a chair and made to fire these weapons at a series of increasingly disturbing and ultimately macabre targets. Here the film is at its most powerful, and you’re even more amazed when realize this is a first time director working with relatively inexperienced actors working on a budget which seems paltry compared to other major films to be released this summer, and even than more minor films (Julie and Julia cost $40 million, ten more than District 9).
While the message in this film is a pretty bleak, and while Wikus only becomes the hero after he realizes it may be too late, that does not make this film any less enjoyable. I was one of the few among my friends who liked the fact that Wikus does not fit easily into the savior role, nor does he want to. Even as he forms a bond with Christopher late in the film, he does so for completely selfish reasons. While this may make him harder to root for, I think it keeps the character consistent and fundamentally human.
If you have not seen this film already, go and do so. It is visually stunning and one of the most thought provoking movies, science fiction or otherwise, that I have seen in a long time.
On a slightly separate note, this film is rated R for a reason. I was quite perturbed to see many people bringing their young children, as young as six and seven. This is not at all a film to bring children to. While I can almost understand parents bringing their kids to see GI Joe or Transformers, as they are largely marketed to children to begin with (though I’d like to think most parents wouldn’t breed such terrible taste into their kids), this film is too dark and far too violent to bring kids to.
A landmark film that is part sci-fi, part action, and even a little black comedy.
District 9, from first time director Neill Blomkamp, is a thought-provoking, violent, and shocking film, and is arguably one of the best of the year.
District 9 tells the story of Wikus Van De Merwe (newcomer Sharlto Copley), a office drone working for MNU, Multi-National United, a large government organization centered in Johannesburg, South Africa, where a group of aliens landed twenty eight years prior. The action kicks into high gear when Wikus (pronounced “Vikis”) is promoted to lead the project to hand out eviction notices to the aliens, who are called Prawns by most humans, because of their crustacean-like appearance.
District 9 succeeds in that its focus is not on special effects, but on story telling, as it should be. While all of the special effects are top-notch, and are courtesy of Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital, they do are not flashy and overdone they way they have been in some more recent summer fare. The special effects are grounded in this film’s reality, and are at their jaw dropping best when various alien weaponry is used Jackson’s signature splattercore brand of violence, which always lends itself to the darkest form of comedy. There is something fundamentally satisfying about seeing the head of a black market arms trader explode with fantastically messy results. Additionally the creature effects are done in such a way to anthropomorphize the non-human characters without venturing into adorable ET or grating Jar Jar territory. The aliens are still alien; they are not supposed to be all that easy to identify with. The only exception to this might be alien protagonist Christopher’s son, the plucky tech genius, who almost becomes too cute, but straddles the line well.
The allegory of apartheid is another strong point in the film. While the racial tension that still exists in South Africa is never explicitly mentioned, it doesn’t necessarily need to in order for the average viewer understand what Blomkamp is attempting to do. It is a sad fact of human nature for us to disenfranchise any population whom we feel is “less than”, and this fact remains the same whether we are talking about racial tensions in South Africa or illegal immigrants in California. This is an example of what Science Fiction is at its best. Science Fiction, when done right, tells us more about ourselves than anything else, which is part of the reason that shows like the new Battlestar Galactica enough were important enough to merit a discussion at the United Nations which resulted in a change to the UN Charter.
Perhaps the most profound illustration of this is a bit more than half way through the movie, after an accident allows Wikus to use the alien weaponry, a turn events which reveals the much darker side of MNU, making them more akin to something like Halliburton than the United Nations. In what seems like an updated version of something out of A Clockwork Orange, Wikus is strapped into a chair and made to fire these weapons at a series of increasingly disturbing and ultimately macabre targets. Here the film is at its most powerful, and you’re even more amazed when realize this is a first time director working with relatively inexperienced actors working on a budget which seems paltry compared to other major films to be released this summer, and even than more minor films (Julie and Julia cost $40 million, ten more than District 9).
While the message in this film is a pretty bleak, and while Wikus only becomes the hero after he realizes it may be too late, that does not make this film any less enjoyable. I was one of the few among my friends who liked the fact that Wikus does not fit easily into the savior role, nor does he want to. Even as he forms a bond with Christopher late in the film, he does so for completely selfish reasons. While this may make him harder to root for, I think it keeps the character consistent and fundamentally human.
If you have not seen this film already, go and do so. It is visually stunning and one of the most thought provoking movies, science fiction or otherwise, that I have seen in a long time.
On a slightly separate note, this film is rated R for a reason. I was quite perturbed to see many people bringing their young children, as young as six and seven. This is not at all a film to bring children to. While I can almost understand parents bringing their kids to see GI Joe or Transformers, as they are largely marketed to children to begin with (though I’d like to think most parents wouldn’t breed such terrible taste into their kids), this film is too dark and far too violent to bring kids to.