Wow. Produced by Peter Jackson, "District 9" renewed my faith in movie-making. Stunned and battered by the vacuous noisy pile of unoriginal claptrap starring talentless posers, I went into "District 9" not quite knowing what to expect, but buoyed by the massive reviews.
Believe the hype. "District 9" is easily the most original film of the summer, of the last several years, and may very well be one of the best science fiction movies of all time. And it comes out of left field. Starring an unrecognizable cast of mostly South Africans, directed by neophyte Neil Blomkamp, written by first timers Blomkamp and Terri Thacell, modestly budgeted, mostly filmed in a shanty town on a garbage dump. featuring an unlikeable hero, how on earth did this wonder come to be? Word. Peter Jackson.
An alien ship has been stalled out over Johannesburg for some reason. The insectoid inhabitants are trapped and cordoned off in a refuge camp. They are so physically repulsive the locals derisively refer to them as bottom-feeding "prawns." They're not particularly likable, dirty and garbage scrounging, but they do love cat food. Unable to use their sophisticated weaponry or fuel their ship because they're lacking a certain kind of black fluid, they've been stranded for 20 years when we jump into the story.
A great down in the details script cuts between a mockumentary and a more extended storyline, both centering on Wikus, played by Sharlto Copley. He's an unlikely protagonist, a weaselly little mid-level nobody who gets the job to move the alien shanty town because he's married to the boss's daughter. Wikus is a sweaty, smarmy creep who delights in taunting the prawns, cackling wildly as his government agency, MNU, burns down a shack containing dozens of prawn fetuses, gleefully reveling in the "popping" sound as the fetuses explode.
But the tables turn on him when he's exposed to the black liquid and slowly, disgustingly begins to transform into the very thing he mocks. The journey of Wikus, played to perfection by Sharlto Copley, is one of creep to victim to coward to hero. It is one of the most believable character arcs in recent memory.
The military and everyone else, including a gang of Nigerians who trade weapons with the prawns, want him and his DNA, and much of the second part of the film turns into a run and hide gun battle. And what a battle it is. I guarantee you this- you have never seen so many humans, so effectively, exploded into piles of goo flying through the air. It's just good clean fun. It takes a wise director to know when to yell cut to the explosions and fun, and, somehow, Blomkamp, knows just where. Are you listening Michael Bay?
There's a love story buried in all this, between a desperate, alone and on the run Wikus and his wife. There's not a lot of it, but what there is serves to humanize him and make us root for him. The last image of the film, one I won't reveal, is destined to be iconic.
"District 9" details its scenario of stranded aliens in completely believable fashion. It's funny, satiric, thought-provoking, exciting, and from top to bottom, wildly inventive and original. Not a frame has been wasted.
This move will be a classic for the early 21st century.
Rating:
Presentation: 29
Plot: 32
Character :31
Total : 92
