Review: ‘District 9’

In the world created in ‘District 9,’ Neill Blomkamp’s highly original and thoroughly exciting debut film, we are fast approaching the 30th year aliens have come to Earth.  Not only was 1982 the year of 1000, great, sci-fi films, it was the year an alien mother ship entered Earth’s atmosphere and gently rested hundreds of feet above Johannesburg, South Africa.  After boarding the ship months after its arrival, humans discovered it was inhabited by refugees from a faraway world.  Naturally, the South African government, tolerant as ever, detains the million or so alien visitors in a camp known as District 9.

The events of Blomkamp’s film take place in the year 2010.  The camp is controlled by a corporation known as MNU (Multi-National Unit), and violence within the camp is at an all-time high.  The MNU decides it is time to take action and move the aliens from District 9 to a newer camp.  Leading this mass movement of alien creatures, who are referred to as prawns, is Wikus van der Merwe, played by Sharlto Copley, a field operative who is more company man than alien drover.  Things go from halfway decent to bad to even worse once Wikus comes across a strange vial.  To say more would be to give too much away.

Blomkamp’s film, which is a feature adaptation of his 2005 short, ‘Alive in Joburg,’ is a masterpiece of creation, expanding the themes Blomkamp briefly touches on in his short.  Told through a mix of mockumentary-style, found footage and standard narrative filmmaking, it takes a bit of getting used to in the start.  Blomkamp’s decision to inconsistently switch between the cinema verite feel and the straight storytelling is not ideal.  He does ease any adjustments you may need to make in comfortably watching the film by going in headlong.  You never sense he is second-guessing any decisions he makes, and, because of that, you trust him.  Having said that, the film definitely grasps you from the very opening moments and never lets up to its explosive finale.  There is a deep-rooted story at the core of ‘District 9,’ a multi-faceted structure that challenges the viewer but never gets too far ahead that it loses you.  However, this isn’t a flat, talking heads kind of film, either.  In fact, about halfway through the film, the action kicks in, and it is nonstop all the way to its riveting climax.

The film is also an astounding piece of cinema given that its budget is not even in the range of the $100 million+ most alien movies receive.  Blomkamp does so much with what little he has, and he makes it work to its fullest extent.  You can clearly see what Peter Jackson, who serves as producer on the film, saw in Blomkamp’s vision for this film.  There is so much working for this film from the story and its themes, to the character development Blomkamp and co-writer Terri Tatchell have put together, to the breathtaking computer effects that bring the aliens and their ships and weapons to life.  The special effects in the film really are a wonderment.  There is so much that directors of those $100 million+ box office behemoths can learn from filmmakers like Neill Blomkamp.  To see a film such as ‘District 9,’ you wonder why a films budget ever need be more than $30 or $40 million for its creators to get the job done.

The action in the film is magnificently exciting, as well.  The aliens have dozens of varying weapons.  They all seem to do something different, but the end result is always the same.  The human being shot simply explodes in a massive shower of blood and lifeless body parts.  Blomkamp never pulls any punches in ‘District 9’s violence, and the gritty realism of some of it can be quite jarring at first.  By the time the film erupts into one, giant action sequence, you’ll be throwing popcorn in your mouth and gleefully reeling in all the entertaining carnage that surges from the screen.

Not only does the film incorporate incredible special effects and some amazingly badass action sequences, it has a heart, as well, that is missing from its big-budget brethren.  Blomkamp’s protagonist is a man who goes through changes throughout the film, in more ways than you can imagine.  It is the emotional changes Wikus goes through that makes his story so appealing.  At first, he is apathetic to the prawns, doing his due diligence to get the job done no questions asked.  He flat out doesn’t care what happens to the aliens in the first parts of the film.  The character changes Wikus goes through brings to life the aliens themselves.  He befriends an alien named Christopher Johnson, a prawn who seems to have more going on mentally than what the humans believe the aliens capable of.  By the later moments of the film, the two are friends, working together for a common goal, even if their reasons for doing so vary.

Christopher Johnson, like all the prawns in ‘District 9,’ is a completely CG generated character, and the people at Weta digital have done it again.  Much like their work in ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘King Kong,’ they have crafted completely non-human characters who capture all the human qualities that make them feel so alive.  It’s not a slight against the secondary characters in ‘District 9,’ but Christopher Johnson is absolutely one of the most fully realized characters in the film.  This isn’t to say the CG found in ‘District 9’ is across-the-board flawless.  Groups of prawns running through the camp are not perfectly realized.  Neither is a shot of a small ship crash-landing.  These are minor flaws in an otherwise spotless feat of special effects creation, but they are definitely noticeable.

Much of the humanity that comes from the Christopher Johnson character is also due to the outstanding performance by Copley.  He never falters in projecting the different aspects of his character.  A torpid slave to the corporation he works for in the film’s opening moments, he alters as the film progresses, moving to fearful and disconcerted through the middle, and, finally, heroic in the film’s last half.  Copley, all the while, does a commendable job, never feeling the slightest bit behind in his character’s attitudes and always in command.  You genuinely believe every action this character makes.

The work Neill Blomkamp has created in ‘District 9’ is groundbreaking, a tremendous fusion of gritty and realistic action, character-driven morality, and all the sci-fi bells and whistles that are sure to have fanboys around the world cheering in their seats.  It very well could be the best aliens coming to Earth film in decades.  To say it is the best of all time is a little premature, but the thought is definitely in there somewhere.  Blomkamp is sure to be a filmmaker on the rise.  Here is hoping that, with a bigger budget, he can keep the same level of story crafting and confident filmmaking that is found here.