Let’s just get this straight from the beginning, this is in no way an original film.  There are many like it, and there will be many like it to come.  Yes, District 9 is a recipe mixing splashes of E.T. and The Fly, but what it lacks in original overall storytelling it more than makes up in it’s character development, social immigration policy commentary and visual effects.  Not to mention that it was made for under 35 million dollars, which is a nice spit in the face of McG and his lifemate Michael Bay, and all of their100+ milllion dollar CG robots.  Just think of District 9 (D9) as Transformers younger, yet way more intelligent and mature South African brother, who did all his homework, and ended up being the breadmaker in the end.

Shot in a documentary-style which lends to the realism of the entire sci-fi doc look, D9 looks at the way human beings treat “aliens” because they just simply do not understand.  Unfortunately this premise, and all of its importance and commentary go out the window about twenty minutes into the film, but it is quickly replaced with stunning visual effects and a story that still yields fantastic overall results.  Director Neill Blomkaump has directed a few shorts before this, including the inspiration for the full-length version District 9.  It doesn’t transcend the short he made years ago storywise, but visually Blompkaump has surpassed many with his CG team.  Although the aliens “Prawn” themselves don’t have much of a personality, the main character Wikus, played by Sharlto Copley helps move the story along as the narrator/turned victim by motivating the erratic, shaky camera work.  Zooming his way in and out of each scene Blomkaumps look that I like to call science fiction docu-comedy is always entertaining, and will not dissapoint anyone going to see an action movie and god forbid, have to think a little before the explosions begin.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 12:44 am and is filed under 4, Film Reviews, Max Hope. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.