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An entertaining mixture of allegory, satire and science
fiction thriller "District 9" uses a combination of the
documentary style filmmaking that has become popular over
the years (hand held jittery camera moves) as well as static
shots of talking heads that you would see in a real documentary
along with other cinematic techniques to tell a gritty first
contact tale and how our main character manages to rediscover
his humanity after interacting with an alien species. The
last third delivers on the promise of action but I thought
it could have been a bit more imaginative at the end in
implementing that section. This is an extremely good movie
that manages to pack a variety of elements into its story.***
Government employee Wilkus Van De Merwe (newcomer Sharlto
Copley)is put in charge of evicting and resettling an alien
race of creatures that have become stranded on Earth. Forced
to live in slums not unlike those that existed during apartheid,
the creatures referred to as Prawns (because they resemble
shrimp)brought oodles of alien technology with them but
humans are unable to use them because the technology only
responds to their DNA.The organization he's working for
the MNU clearly have their own agenda beyond keeping the
aliens and humanity segregated. Merwe's mission goes horribly
wrong which puts him on the run and he finds the only sympathy
among the aliens that he and other humans find disgusting.
Throw in Nigerian arms dealers, a shadowy government agency
that is doing things that even Merwe wasn't aware of and
you have a strong thriller that has a message that doesn't
become too heavy handed.***
Neill Blomkamp's first feature film packs quite a lot
into its 111 minutes; the film is at turns satrical, ironic
and while allegorical the director doesn't let the themes
of prejudice overwhelm the often moving story at its core.
The visual effects done by producer Peter Jackson's WETA
studios look marvelous and are well integrated into the
story running rings around what many other visual effects
houses might have done.***
Blomkamp keeps his drama rooted in gritty reality by
using a variety of film techniques but ultimately what makes
the film blososm is the strong performance by Sharlto Copley
as a government worker used to looking down on the "prawns"
and cheerfully doing whatever he is asked to do.***
Blomkamp's film does borrow a number of motifs from
other films including "The Fly" and even "Aliens" but he
integrates them so well into his story that they aren't
distracting. He also tackles a number of themes that have
been examined in other science fiction films in the past
including "Alien Nation" but grounds the story in reality
which gives it a stronger and more believable impact. While
"District 9" isn't completely original borrowing as it does
from other science fiction films and dramas it does manage
to make the parts much greater than the whole.***
The third act becomes a standard space opera shoot
'em up while detracts from the fascinating first two acts
but the last shot of the film redeems the third act fumble
for me. If "District 9" is flawed it at least has its heart
in the right place even if the film does become predictable
by the last third.***
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