District 9.

Why? Because it's my blog, bitch. And also because you know the only reviews you guys actually care about are my Teen Wolf ones, so in the meantime I may as well take a look at and review films I should have really given the 'Think About It!' treatment a long time ago.

Just in case you live under a rock, District 9 came out in 2009, is directed by Neill Blomkamp and is a mockumentary sci-fi movie. Oh it was also produced by Peter Jackson as well. District 9 is a feature length adaptation of Blomkamp's original short about South Africa and all the racial tension that exists there, apartheid and all that just done with aliens. It was regarded as a sleeper hit, made up of unknowns and a [Hollywood] modest budget - eventually making almost ten times its budget at the box office.

It was a critical success as well, praised for its special effects, for its ideas, action, pacing - basically praised for everything. There were some complaints that the third act didn't really resolve anything and simply descended into an action sequence and that the film had striking resemblances to the 1988 movie Alien Nation, but other than that, praise, praise everywhere.

And what did I think of this movie? Well you guys already know I love this movie, but here I'll tell you why.

The film is delivered for the most part in a mockumentary, found footage style. It tells the story of a spaceship grinding to a halt not over America, but over Johannesburg during the 80's. The spaceship lingers in the sky for several weeks, and with the whole world looking on at Johannesburg they knew they had to do something. Not knowing what they would find, they break into the spaceship and that is when they discover the 'Prawns' our aliens of the movie. They are in ill health and with the pressure of the world watching, they snap into action to aid them. Although soon the military get involved and fuck it all up... Racial tension rises, crime rates soar, violence ensues. Twenty years later the government has set a series of things in place to better control and police the aliens, which basically amounts to a slum called District 9, where the aliens live.


Really though the centre of all this is the weapons the aliens have brought with them...and the weapons are awesome. You've got like lightning guns, mech suits, laser guns, pulse cannons, green fire guns and all other manner of crazy sci-fi weapons. However, the humans can't just pick up the weapons and go, as they are genetically incompatible with humans - this is an important plot point.

The themes in this movie...aren't very well handled. I mean I don't think you could make it any more obvious that this film was about racial segregation unless you hold up a sign specifically stating that...oh wait, they do. I dunno, maybe that is the point, but I prefer to pick up my message if I so choose, not have it screamed at me.

However the mockumentary style of the film really works in its favour, we get a lot of information dumping very quickly so the film can actually get on with its plot, but it just works and flows nicely because of the way it's being presented, a documentary is an information film, so it feels very natural that when the movie isn't turning bodies into goo, it is just listing off information.

Our protagonist is Wikus van de Merwe, a bit of a pencil pusher who is rather sad a pathetic, a guy who clearly thinks he is much more important than he really is and you really do feel quite sorry for him as he's chucked in the deep end without any comprehension of how to swim. He is in charge of the false legality and form filling of a mass eviction of Prawns from the slum of District 9 to what basically amounts to a concentration camp called District 10. However it isn't long before everything gets very violent and Merwe finds himself in the middle of a body horror plot thread. The whole pathetic nature of his character before his transformation makes it all the more poignant when he decides to fight back, refuse his fate and become a hero, reuniting a father and his boy who just want to get home. You just feel so sorry for him when the whole world turns against him for something that really isn't his fault and even stuff that is his fault...you can just so easily forget with how it is all set up - it just shows how masterfully this is put together.

In a lot of ways, this film really is a lot more disturbing than I remember and in some places, just downright horrible. There is this constant, eerie sense of unknown surrounding everything. We never really learn what sprays in Merwe's face other than it being some kind of alien fuel or why it results in what it does and that is what makes his transformation that so much more disturbing. And although we learn a lot about the aliens, we never truly know them, we only get theories. Even the ending itself, is just a series of further questions. So for all we know, eating the Prawns may well let you use their weapons, who knows? The film is much more interested in the what if, than the what itself and I enjoyed that.

I know the critics really didn't like the action side to things, but I really did, when the movie finally shut the fuck up screaming its message in my face (you know, the stuff the critics actually liked) and descended into action (you know the stuff the critics didn't like) I remembered why I went on about this movie so much, the action isn't just well shot, choreographed and directed...it also just has such incredible imagination. I can imagine an eight year old kid designed these action scenes with his action figures and that is okay, that is why it is so fun. So maybe the third act wasn't as 'deep' and 'thoughtful' as the rest of the movie, but with action this epic, who gives a fuck? This film closes brilliantly, a fitting end for such a great movie.

I must admit, I remember the CGI being a lot better, it just shows how quickly dated CGI can become when compared to practical effects and their longevity. That being said, there are some decent practical effects dotted around and all the weapons are really cool, as I mentioned. Plus Merwe's transformation is just excellent, it starts off subtle with him getting paler and paler, with dark rings forming around his eyes, then he begins to throw up and develop a cough and it just gets more and more elaborate as he literally begins to fall apart and get rebuilt as something else and it just looks great.

One problem I had with this film is the acting itself... Sharlto Copley puts on a great performance as our central character, Merwe - he plays his role completely straight and for devastating effect, you quickly forget how silly all this is under the weight of the bleak, sadness of it all making it a truly powerful, moving film however everyone around him...they range from cheesily melodramatic and awkwardly wooden. I think the CGI aliens put in better performance than much of the human cast. 

I feel I have to point out, although not really a criticism, per se, that District 9 is not a happy film. Entertaining? Yes. Happy? No. And so if you expect your entertainment to be synonymous with happy you will not enjoy this film, the closest this film comes to happy is bittersweet, you'll have fun, sure but this is a bleak, sad film where the heroes win but in a way much closer to real world winning, than movie winning.

I also have to question though...what is keeping that ship in the sky? And it would seem the Prawns perfectly understand English, they just don't speak it and the humans understand Prawn, but just don't speak it...how? Do they control breeding or not? I'm guessing the several million Prawn in District 9 weren't all in the ship, so they had to breed at some point, but when they discover eggs, they burn them all. I mean they make a throw away line about licences but that is about it.

So do I recommend it? As always, District 9 does indeed have problems. The special effects I suppose can be ignored, because it isn't really District 9's fault for the budget it had or the limitations of CGI (one again proof that practical > CGI) but they are already looking dated, only three years on. But really, the real problem with this film is how obnoxiously its message is told and how badly the actors deliver it. I don't care what the critics say, story is not District 9's strong point. Sharlto Copley is apparently in a different film entirely as he puts in a heartbreaking, human central performance much better than the film itself deserves, seemingly unknown of the fact that he is surrounded by bad actors and left wing bullshit.

On the plus side though, District 9 is extremely well put together and extremely imaginative. I'd recommend District 9 on the action alone, even if that was the stuff the critics called the 'weak' part. Really any fan of sci-fi, horror or blockbusters will get something to enjoy out of this, so if you somehow missed this when it was being hyped in 2009, here is a friendly Locke reminder, to go watch this fucking movie!

Think About It!

-Locke