Thomas Bess’ review of:
Directed By: Neil Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley
Run Time: 112 thought-provoking, grin-producing minutes.
After I caught an afternoon showing of District 9 yesterday, it occurred to me that it could be the shortest review in my brief history with the good folks at Atomik, mainly because it was just going to be ‘SEE THIS MOVIE!’ typed out in seventy two point Rockwell Extra Bold. Alas, the unwritten rules of being a film reviewing dude (I refuse to say critic. Too many negative connotations there, but that’s my hang-up, not yours) is that you’re supposed to give the folks reading a few reasons to go see the movie in question. That I can definitely do, the only problem is, D9 is one of those movies where not knowing what’s going to happen is what makes it so enjoyable. That in mind, I shall press on in the hopes that the lure of great science fiction is enough to overcome the heaps of vague I have to pile on to keep it spoiler free.
Plot goes a little something like this — twenty-eight years ago, an Independence Day class mothership appeared over the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The world held its collective breath in anticipation of making first contact with an alien species, but nothing of the sort actually happened. After two months of having this ship literally hanging over their heads, the humans cut into it and found a whole load of extraterrestrial refugees that look like a bipedal cross between shrimp and grasshoppers. The whole lot of them were sick and in need of a place to recuperate, so we unloaded ’em and promptly placed them all in the titular ‘District Nine’, a military patrolled neighborhood that’s really nothing more than a slum. Tensions between humans and the ‘prawns’ have been increasing ever since and as the film starts, the ominously named Multi-National United (MNU) group is on the verge of starting a mass eviction that’ll take the prawns out of District Nine and move them to another location well outside the city. Competent but weasely company man Wikus Van De Merwe (Copley) is in charge of the operation and things are going reasonably well until he’s exposed to some heretofore unknown alien technology. Before he even knows what’s happened, Wikus is on the run from his former bosses and the only folks that can help him are the creatures he’d been treating rather poorly prior to his infection.
So what’s good? Man, this is tough because I just wanna say ‘everything’ and leave it there, but as I’ve already mentioned, the Atomik Brain Canisters don’t approve of that. Forced to praise without spoiling, I’d have to say the story is the strongest part of D9. One of the more annoying trends in Hollywood these days is to lay out the entire plot of a film in the trailer but what you’ve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Even as the details of Wikus’ plight and the resultant plan unfold, the viewer is never quite sure where it’s going to go. You THINK you know how it‘ll all end up, but I’d be willing to wager that you get caught by a few of the movie’s curve balls before the credits roll. On a less cerebral note, the gore and carnage that unfolds in the last act is nothing short of spectacular. For reasons I shall not reveal, the prawn’s kick ass technology has been pretty much dormant for their time on Earth, but that changes when Wikus and a few of his new friends make a break for it and the results are old school Peter Jackson goodness straight out of Dead Alive. Again, no spoilers but among the highlights are a giant mech suit, lightning guns AND a pig used as a high-powered projectile. For those of you who delight in splatter and grue, the last act of D9 will make you very happy indeed.
So what’s not good? Honestly, there’s nothing in this flick that struck me as ‘bad’ in the sense that it detracted from my enjoyment of the narrative, BUT, Wikus is most definitely a flawed protagonist. And to be honest, ‘flawed’ is a polite way of saying he’s a total dick up to the point where the tables are turned and he’s forced to endure the crap he was helping put the aliens through. Even then he still has quite a few self-serving douchebag moments, one of them so head-slappingly irritating you almost want to see him crash and burn, as long as the aliens get away unscathed. Now I want to reiterate that none of this dislike is a result of bad acting on Copley’s part, the dude does an absolutely fantastic job of being a jerk, but for those of you who prefer a hero who’s, ya know, likable, following Wikus’ journey from start to finish might prove to be something of a chore.
Do you like great science fiction? Strike that, do you like great movies? Then go see District 9. In a summer season rife with flicks that don’t ask you do any thinking in the theater or out of it, this is one that you’ll be discussing long afterward. Even if you just wandered in for the splatter alone (and really, I wouldn’t hold that against you) you’ll end up enjoying it on a much deeper level. Now, to carry through on what I originally wanted to do… (ed note: He really, really wanted to do this.)
SEE THIS MOVIE!
Til next time, always remember that the calls are coming from inside the house.
You can check out District 9 trailer over at YouTube.
Tom Bess has sideburns that are so big they might be considered a beard shaving accident from afar. He blames his current mental state on Stephen King, Mike Nelson, Seth McFarlane and Vince McMahon but bears them no ill will. He passes his time writing movie reviews, but will flee the interwebs forever as soon as Allison Mack starts returning his calls.
