A good if unsubtle summer sci-fi shoot em up, District 9 works best when it leaves the political stuff behind and concentrates on what it really wants to be: a "things go boom in the post apocalyptic world" movie. While I enjoy political subtext in films, this flick's intent seemed strained, as if trying too forcefully make a statement. It's a black and white film, both literally (race plays a factor in the film) and figuratively (the aliens are good, the humans bad, without hardly a middle ground).
The first half, dealing with eviction notices for the creatures, or "prawns", as the film identifies them, is shot in a documentary, cinema verite style. While that worked for films like Cloverfield (which stuck with the technique all the way to the very end), I must be honest, it isn't very necessary for District 9. Luckily, director Neill Blomkamp abandons this approach fairly early on, perhaps so that we can look at the dirty, dusty Terminator world in which most of our film is set.
The film excels in the second half, with a father/son dynamic that personalizes the story and makes us care. Sure, our lead human protagonist is supposed to be redeemed by the end of the story, but let's be honest, the only reason he even bothers to help the Prawns is to help himself and his body changing condition. Before then, he wanted nothing to do with them. So why should I care?
The special effects are excellent. The creatures, the explosions, the rippings of flesh, and the random animals that get hurled through the sky (you'll see) all look first rate. Even the Iron Man suit that our leading man dons late in the film looks stellar in a, you know, rickety old junkyard sort of way. This story could really benefit from a sequel......in about three years time.....exactly three years.
Question: How can human beings understand the Prawn vocabulary (and vice versa) and yet neither can speak the other species' language? I found that rather odd.
District 9 kept me interested, and it's light years above a lot of other summer stuff we've been subjected to recently (Wolverine, Transformers 2, GI Joe, and to a lesser degree, Terminator: Salvation), so I feel fine recommending this one. Even if the film struggles with too many ideas on its plate, I suppose we can be happy that Blomkamp even thought to bring them to the table in the first place.
I can't wait for Blomkamp's next film: An allegorical Bigfoot story about prohibition. Hey, I can dream.
Final Rating: 7/10 |
SPOTLIGHTS
