District 9

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List.

Today's review is District 9. Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.

They Are Not Welcome
They Are Not Accepted
The Are Not Human

These were the 3 lines that came from the brilliant teaser trailer to what has now become without a doubt one of the best films of the summer.

The feature story of District 9 came from a short film of a similar concept by Blomkamp. Aliens landing on earth and living in segregation among the human race. This expanded version carries with it so much more weight and meaning that it demands and gets your full attention.

The basic plot is what you all have seen from the trailer. An alien ship becomes stranded on earth hovering over Johannesburg South Africa in the 80's. For 20 years the South African government tries to figure out the meaning of the ships arrival and the purpose of it's dormant hovering over Johannesburg. They finally get the ship open and find tentacle like creatures that are dubbed "prawns" for their fishlike appearance. The prawns are not violent and for a while coexist with the humans until the established order begins to crumble. In a panic move the government segregates the prawns into a shanty town area of Johannesburg called District 9. The prawns are free to live and do as they choose as long as they stay in D9.

The rest of the film follows the journey of Multi National United or MNU officer Wikus Van De Merwe played by the amazing Sharlto Copley. As the situation in D9 deteriorates further, Wikus has been tasked with evicting 1.8 million prawns to a new District 10 in the hopes that the separation will bring more order to Johannesburg. The film follows Wikus as he serves eviction notices to the prawns. Some agree willingly and other resist with violence. During one eviction notice Wikus encounters a prawn with quite a bit of technology that is considered illegal. He attempts to collect some evidence when an event takes place that changes his life forever.

What happened to Wikus you ask?  I can't tell you that. I fear I may have told you too much already but rest assured there aren't any more spoilers.

What makes District 9 so good stylistically is the blending of filmmaking styles. It's part documentary part feature film. The movie starts out with the documentary style chronicling the aftermath of what happened in District 9 after Wikus was there. While also introducing the main characters including Wikus. The events of evicting the prawns are also seen in documentary fashion a la Cops.

What makes District 9 so good as a film overall is the story and the messages that they present. Themes of segregation, racism and government tyranny are woven throughout the narrative. The MNU tries to duplicate the alien weapons technology for their military but can't because it's alien DNA based. So what does a corrupt and cruel government do? You can guess for yourself.

This movie is very human despite the largely non-human entities that run amuck in D9. And that aspect falls squarely on the shoulders of Wikus as he tries to make sense of what's happened to him while trying to resolve his issues. You root for him so hard to get what he needs and that's a product of how Copley plays the character. He has a small bumbling idiot persona while maintaining a respectable presence of authority that forces you to take him seriously. You also root for the prawns because you realize that although at times they resort to violence, for the most part they are a scared extraterrestrial race that just wants to go home.

Despite the dramatic overtones, District 9 also has some pretty impressive action scenes particularly the one in the third act. It's very stylish and visual meaning you can see the action as it unfolds. There aren't hyper cuts or flashy editing that takes away the flow of the battle. This has become commonplace in today's blockbuster action films. The brain trust or lack there of continue with this moronic belief structure that quick cuts and over the top effects are what make an action scene go. They don't have faith in the audience to hold on to a hold on to your hats people 10-20 second shot before an edit is made. Instead you get if you're lucky half the time between edits and you are spent the rest of the scene trying to catch up to what you last saw while the rest of it goes by.

Thankfully Blomkamp doesn't subscribe to that theory. He undoubtedly has a visual eye that made him Peter Jackson's choice to direct the video game adaptation of HALO which he was going to produce. The project is currently in developmental limbo. According to who you want to believe, Universal put HALO on ice due to what was a very bloated budget. Somewhere in the 200+ million dollar range. Jackson believes (as do I by the way) that Universal was not so hot on giving a potential mega franchise property to an unknown director. As a result Jackson and Blomkamp walked and decided to make District9 and it was a genius move for several reasons.

First and foremost it established Blompkamp's ability to tell a story and get this boys and girls. It was........Are you ready........AN ORIGINAL STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY S#!T!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? In a world of remakes, re-do's and re-imaginations someone from tinseltown came up with a brand spanking new idea. What has the film world come to? Who let this guy into the club? He doesn't belong with the rest of Hollywood's biggest and brightest. He's a freak of nature. He came up with his own idea and put it on film for the masses to see. Ok enough sarcasm. You get my point. Blomkamp showed me how to tell an original story in an genre that has seen and done everything once, twice, many times before.

Secondly, with D9, Blomkamp has now given himself valuable street cred and more importantly proved the great and wise Peter Jackson right. How anyone would doubt the talent seeking ability of one of Hollywood's untouchable powerhouse filmmakers is beyond me. There's no doubt in my mind that Blomkamp would kill as HALO'S director but unfortunately that most likely will not happen.

Thirdly D9 has the potential to become a franchise in it's own right. There are several angles taken that open the film up for a potential sequel. I personally believe it should stay as a stand alone but you never know. The table was set and with the creator maintaining the hold on his brainchild the possibilities could be very impressive.

The film isn't perfect however. There are some subplots that slightly disrupt the flow and seem a little out of place but it's not enough to send the film spiraling down into confusion or mediocrity. The bottom line here is that District 9 is a fresh, exciting and very entertaining sci fi film that deserves all the prestige and accolades it's receiving. By far one of the best if not the best ORIGINAL film of the summer. That title could quickly swing to Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds but until then, District 9 holds that title and wears it proudly.

On the 5 star scale. District 9 gets 4.5 stars and a BIG TIME "Worth Every Penny" recommendation.

That's all for today.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard and QT's Inglourious Basterds are next.

Until Next Episode....."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"