District 9
Already ordained in geek circles as a future cult classic, Neill Blomkamp’s fiendishly clever feature kicks off such an abundance of provocative ideas, it’s heartbreaking to watch the second half of the film devolve into just another shoot ’em up, however expertly helmed it may be.
Beginning in a sly mockumentary fashion,District 9 tells of an enormous intergalactic spacecraft that stalled out above Johannesburg some 20-odd years ago. A million or so starving aliens, nicknamed “prawns” for their crustacean-like appearance, were stranded with no way to get home, and found themselves settled in the run-down South African refugee camp from which the film takes it’s title.
Any whiffs you might be getting of apartheid are absolutely intentional, as for the first chunk of the film Blomkamp nimbly shades in all sorts of witty sociopoltical grace notes, satirizing everything from institutionalized racism and anti-immigration crusaders to a large Halliburtionesque conglomerate contracted by the government to move these pesky prawns to another, even more dismal camp. The bumbling Wikus van fer Merwe (Sharito Copley) is charged with getting these countless creatures to sign proper eviction notices, and his hilariously awkward interactions feel like The Office with aliens.
Despite this promising set-up, Blomkamp and co-writer Terri Tatchell don’t have much in the way of follow-through besides mayhem. For reasons best left unspoiled, our Wickus becomes a wanted man. Abruptly abandoning the fake-documentary format, District 9 settles into a chase movie, as our ineffectual bureaucrat hero discovers his inner Mad Max, teaming up with a super-intelligent prawn quite exquisitely named “Christopher Johnson.”
The layers of smart subtext quickly fall away, as District 9 shifts focus to oversized alien machine guns that shoot lightening bolts, and a massive robotic exoskeleton taking on military hardware in a way that suggests what a Transformers movie might look like if directed with any degree of competence.
The action is admittedly thrilling and well-staged, but lacks the subversive spark of District 9’s early reels. The movie deflates as it goes along. After you’ve watched a doomed alien race become obsessed with cat food and Nigerian prostitutes, gunfights don’t seem all that impressive anymore. Even when the guns shoot lightening bolts. B
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1. steven said... on Aug 21, 2009 at 08:49AM
“there is a lot of action in the second half, though it's not superfluous. it's just another arena to examine the characters in.”
2. Anonymous said... on Aug 23, 2009 at 04:31PM
“yeah why did they have to make the aliens act like poor black people? if tyler perry made a movie where the aliens acted like money grubbing jews or anti-semetic midwestern white teens it would never see the light of day!!! this is the second movie this summer that has black stereotypes crudely acted out by c.g. characters(Transformers 2 twin robots)!!! I AM DEEPLY OUTRAGED!!!!”
3. Anonymous said... on Aug 23, 2009 at 08:50PM
“I didn't think they acted like poor black people. They acted like beings trapped in a slum. This movie was awesome! I am glad that the movie wasn't in documentary form the whole time as it was getting tiring and i agree with the first poster that the action wasn't over done by any means.”
4. Anonymous said... on Aug 25, 2009 at 11:50PM
“Hahahahhahaaa black stereotypes grow up dude. There are not any stereotypes, this movie is showing how poorly we treat those we think are beneath us, whether they are blacks asians mexicans russians or aliens.”
5. John said... on Sep 1, 2009 at 10:12PM
“I don't think that the aliens acted like poor black people. They acted like anyone trapped in a hopeless situation where there was no chance of escape or bettering yourselves. Pretty damn good movie that made you think about your perception of anyone perceived to be "below" your socio-economic class. The alien weapons kicked ass too.”
6. Rick said... on Sep 20, 2009 at 07:45AM
“I thought it was funny that black people were complaining about the aliens. My how things change when a new underclass shows up. It was more a tale of humanity than aliens. The aliens could have literally wiped out the human race if they wanted to. They had the numbers, they had the technology but they decided to trust their leadership in the hopes of just getting home. During that time the humans were plotting behind their backs to learn their weapons technology, they were experimenting on them, even using them for target practice.
The ending is fitting, and the possible scenario it implies means you do not want to see a sequel, it will be ugly.”