"They live among us..."
It has been a while since a film has peaked my interest and after first seeing the teaser trailer and following TV spots, "District 9" accomplished just that so I said "hell, why not?"
I and a friend went to go check it out at the local cinema over the weekend and to cover my response in one general statement; "I was mildly disappointed!"
The film is an updated version of the 1988 Graham Baker hit "Alien Nation" which starred; James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, and Terrence Stamp, and like "Nation", "District 9" is an expose of a what if? scenario...what if over a million alien creatures were stranded on our beloved little planet? How would we deal with it? Where as "Alien Nation" takes place in a Los Angeles of the not so distant future, this new film by director Neill Blomkamp("Alive in Josburg") takes place in Johannesburg/South Africa an interesting choice considering that republics recent history. Blomkamp(a native South African) is well acquainted with the current and past living conditions of his country and he depicts it well on screen and the choice of basing this story there was a refreshing one although in my opinion...a bit late! This film would have hit home with much more resonance had it been made about 20 years ago-the message more profound.
The film is directed and shot in a "documentary style" motif and well executed, the effects are very effective and by midway through the film you almost do not register the effects-they seem real, even the alien "prawns", which they are nicknamed by the resident humans, for their similar appearance to the little Crustaceans, except these critters are immensely strong, agile, multi limbed, oh and they average around 6-7 feet tall. One of the main problems I had with the film were the aliens themselves, their appearance was OK and their speech(a series of clicks and clops) it was the almost total lack of background detail or back story that I found annoying, this and other obvious "holes" in the story ultimately led me to give this film a reluctant "thumbs up".
The film is cast with relative unknowns at least to American audiences, but all performances were well done and convincing, the lead role of the film (Wikus Van Der Merwe) went to first time actor Sharlto Copley who handled the role well despite it's importance and length-we see the film and are shown the story through his eyes;he plays a clueless, naive process worker for the local immigration organization whose main task is dealing with the "Alien" neighbors, when he is assigned on a dangerous mission to District 9(the area designated for the alien refugees) to "re-locate" the alien residents to a new, more secure location...all hell breaks loose and things quickly deteriorate. Not only do you have conflicts with the Aliens but also local warlords, gangsters and the all too cliched shady government element who are, as always depicted in such films ,on an alterior mission to exploit and utilize alien technology and weaponry. The film looks good with effects done by Producer Peter Jackson(LOTR trilogy, King Kong) effects company WETA. The documentary take on the film presents a shaky and at times disorienting journey through this tale so do pay attention to the details-I can't recommend this as a permanent addition to a DVD collection but for a night out at the movies or a netflix rental-check it out!
