Monday, 28 September 2009
Film Review's
'Creation'
19th century naturalist Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) battles with both internal and external demons as he decides if his world changing theories on evolution should be published. Discouraged by his devoutly religious wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly) and haunted by the spirit of his deceased daughter Annie (Martha West) his life get's torn between the pressure of his work and the established beliefs of those around him.
This original take on the still widely debated studies of 'the bearded one' based on ‘Annie’s Box’ by Randall Keynes is certainly ambitious, with the existential theory 'On The Origin Of Species' now firmly held as perhaps the most radical and important idea of human thought.
This is a low-key, slow burning but insightful look into the big question, cleverly played out on the effect it has on the very small. In this case the small being the intimate life of Charles and his family during his writing. For every new discovery, each new idea proven, his ever present doubt would bring itself to the forefront as Darwin's uncertainty on if what he was pursuing was necessarily a good thing. Could science kill god? Without religion, at least organized religion, would society fall apart or would faith remain strong? So Darwin was somewhat of a tortured soul and largely down to Bettany's strong performance you get an acute sense of the mental tug-of-war he plays and the anguish he feels over each new chapter.
The film skips between two timeframes, one as a young father who enjoys telling stories to his beloved daughter Annie and in another, an older guilt stricken man who blames himself for her death and with whom he continues to speak - through ghostly visits or desperate imagination - as he continues his writing. Thankfully director Jon Amiel never labels the visits with a supernatural tag, choosing instead to play it fairly straight through a series of psychological breakdowns, most of which work well apart from the odd nightmarish dream sequence which feels a tad over the top for a period piece.
There are more than a few moments that drag, but for every yawn there is a tear waiting to be shed. Flashbacks which hint at Darwin’s journey of discovery across the South Seas contain both exposition and a light touch and scenes involving the first captive Orangutan being brought to the UK are heartwarming and continuously mirror the real and imagined relationship with Annie which works well.
It may seem reductive to deal with such material in the way 'Creation' does, but it goes a long way to humanize the relatively unknown man behind the theory.
Both the leads offer fine performances as does West and a small but memorable turn from Toby Jones, and it must have been hard for real life husband and wife Bettany and Connelly to keep there off-screen relationship beneath the characters during more heated scenes as Bettany makes a understanding foil to Connelly's fragile Emma.
Overall the films does offer more than the sum of all it's parts and will no doubt be a firm favorite come award's season, but it's not as daring as perhaps it could have been, never quite reaching the heights of it's source material.
***
19th century naturalist Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) battles with both internal and external demons as he decides if his world changing theories on evolution should be published. Discouraged by his devoutly religious wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly) and haunted by the spirit of his deceased daughter Annie (Martha West) his life get's torn between the pressure of his work and the established beliefs of those around him.
This original take on the still widely debated studies of 'the bearded one' based on ‘Annie’s Box’ by Randall Keynes is certainly ambitious, with the existential theory 'On The Origin Of Species' now firmly held as perhaps the most radical and important idea of human thought.
This is a low-key, slow burning but insightful look into the big question, cleverly played out on the effect it has on the very small. In this case the small being the intimate life of Charles and his family during his writing. For every new discovery, each new idea proven, his ever present doubt would bring itself to the forefront as Darwin's uncertainty on if what he was pursuing was necessarily a good thing. Could science kill god? Without religion, at least organized religion, would society fall apart or would faith remain strong? So Darwin was somewhat of a tortured soul and largely down to Bettany's strong performance you get an acute sense of the mental tug-of-war he plays and the anguish he feels over each new chapter.
The film skips between two timeframes, one as a young father who enjoys telling stories to his beloved daughter Annie and in another, an older guilt stricken man who blames himself for her death and with whom he continues to speak - through ghostly visits or desperate imagination - as he continues his writing. Thankfully director Jon Amiel never labels the visits with a supernatural tag, choosing instead to play it fairly straight through a series of psychological breakdowns, most of which work well apart from the odd nightmarish dream sequence which feels a tad over the top for a period piece.
There are more than a few moments that drag, but for every yawn there is a tear waiting to be shed. Flashbacks which hint at Darwin’s journey of discovery across the South Seas contain both exposition and a light touch and scenes involving the first captive Orangutan being brought to the UK are heartwarming and continuously mirror the real and imagined relationship with Annie which works well.
It may seem reductive to deal with such material in the way 'Creation' does, but it goes a long way to humanize the relatively unknown man behind the theory.
Both the leads offer fine performances as does West and a small but memorable turn from Toby Jones, and it must have been hard for real life husband and wife Bettany and Connelly to keep there off-screen relationship beneath the characters during more heated scenes as Bettany makes a understanding foil to Connelly's fragile Emma.
Overall the films does offer more than the sum of all it's parts and will no doubt be a firm favorite come award's season, but it's not as daring as perhaps it could have been, never quite reaching the heights of it's source material.
***
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Film Review's
'Surrogates'
Director Jonathan Mostow returns to familiar robotic territory after the disappointing 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines', to take another look into the world’s reliance on technology and the pitfalls that inevitably follow.
It's a familiar concept, with the world's ever increasing dependence on gadgets and gismos it's second nature to have our whole lives contained within a portable device of some kind and if it can't be downloaded from the internet or emailed then surely it's not worth looking at. So with our business and personal lives wrapped in the safety of an electronic bubble, why not our whole conscious too?
Set in the not to distant future the standardization of robotic avatars has become commonplace, each and every human being now hooked up to a Lawnmoverman come Matrix style virtual-reality system which allows varying levels of our alternative selves to be sent out into a virtually crime free world without fear of illness or death! Of course there are non-believers who think this is a abomination and live out an existence separate from the modernized world, these free spirited non conformists - led by a ridiculously dreadlocked and bearded Ving Rhames names The Prophet - believe through selfishly indulging in such disconnected lives we are quickly loosing our humanity. And it's in this separation of beliefs that the main conflict of the story can be found.
As two seemingly unconnected 'Surrey' get off lined but a mysterious Mcguffin - this time in the form of a military developed 'OD' weapon - capable of frying the synthetics along with there online operators, and with one of them being the son of 'Surrogate father' Older Canter (James Cromwell) the conspiracy theories and double-crossing cat and mouse games soon flow thick and fast.
Unfortunately the story never really develops past taking a surface look at mans achievements before going full circle to discover that we were probably better off as we were, warts and all. Fat, bolding men can appear as leggy blondes, people can live out hedonistic lifestyles without fear of reprisal and Bruce Willis can look a good 20 years younger! With 90% of the film's action involving these alternative characters, all plastic and soulless, it's hard to find a way to feel in any way connected to them - much like the films underlying theme. This makes for thoroughly lifeless and one dimensional leading roles, especially from Bruce Willis as detective *** who juggles working the case while simultaneously trying to recapture a fading relationship with his wife (Rosamund Pike) as she becomes more and more dependant on her virtual life.
There are some nice touches, the way in which we watch Willis go through the shock therapy of reacquainting his now agoraphobic self to the sights and sounds of the world as his human senses get a thorough dusting off, or the few ends scenes which touch on a more personal level and the small hint of what war might come to. It's just a shame that these moments come to late, neither the answers nor the questions are big enough, choosing instead to stick to familiar and very well trodden ground which would be easily forgivable if the film was just a bit more fun.
This isn't helped by more than a few winks and nods to films such as 'I Robot' and 'Artificial Intelligence' which story wise this draws heavily from, as well as Mostow's own 'T3', with special effects and what little humor there is most similar to the latter - it’s all a bit to serious.
It's a hard balance to get right, fantasy and reality, action and emotion, but sadly this is one sci-fi blockbuster that misses the mark by some considerable distance. Rosamund Pike goes a long way to save things but with a weak script, predictable story and poor direction hindering it at almost every step, it didn't really stand a chance. Send a Surrogate instead!
**
Director Jonathan Mostow returns to familiar robotic territory after the disappointing 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines', to take another look into the world’s reliance on technology and the pitfalls that inevitably follow.
It's a familiar concept, with the world's ever increasing dependence on gadgets and gismos it's second nature to have our whole lives contained within a portable device of some kind and if it can't be downloaded from the internet or emailed then surely it's not worth looking at. So with our business and personal lives wrapped in the safety of an electronic bubble, why not our whole conscious too?
Set in the not to distant future the standardization of robotic avatars has become commonplace, each and every human being now hooked up to a Lawnmoverman come Matrix style virtual-reality system which allows varying levels of our alternative selves to be sent out into a virtually crime free world without fear of illness or death! Of course there are non-believers who think this is a abomination and live out an existence separate from the modernized world, these free spirited non conformists - led by a ridiculously dreadlocked and bearded Ving Rhames names The Prophet - believe through selfishly indulging in such disconnected lives we are quickly loosing our humanity. And it's in this separation of beliefs that the main conflict of the story can be found.
As two seemingly unconnected 'Surrey' get off lined but a mysterious Mcguffin - this time in the form of a military developed 'OD' weapon - capable of frying the synthetics along with there online operators, and with one of them being the son of 'Surrogate father' Older Canter (James Cromwell) the conspiracy theories and double-crossing cat and mouse games soon flow thick and fast.
Unfortunately the story never really develops past taking a surface look at mans achievements before going full circle to discover that we were probably better off as we were, warts and all. Fat, bolding men can appear as leggy blondes, people can live out hedonistic lifestyles without fear of reprisal and Bruce Willis can look a good 20 years younger! With 90% of the film's action involving these alternative characters, all plastic and soulless, it's hard to find a way to feel in any way connected to them - much like the films underlying theme. This makes for thoroughly lifeless and one dimensional leading roles, especially from Bruce Willis as detective *** who juggles working the case while simultaneously trying to recapture a fading relationship with his wife (Rosamund Pike) as she becomes more and more dependant on her virtual life.
There are some nice touches, the way in which we watch Willis go through the shock therapy of reacquainting his now agoraphobic self to the sights and sounds of the world as his human senses get a thorough dusting off, or the few ends scenes which touch on a more personal level and the small hint of what war might come to. It's just a shame that these moments come to late, neither the answers nor the questions are big enough, choosing instead to stick to familiar and very well trodden ground which would be easily forgivable if the film was just a bit more fun.
This isn't helped by more than a few winks and nods to films such as 'I Robot' and 'Artificial Intelligence' which story wise this draws heavily from, as well as Mostow's own 'T3', with special effects and what little humor there is most similar to the latter - it’s all a bit to serious.
It's a hard balance to get right, fantasy and reality, action and emotion, but sadly this is one sci-fi blockbuster that misses the mark by some considerable distance. Rosamund Pike goes a long way to save things but with a weak script, predictable story and poor direction hindering it at almost every step, it didn't really stand a chance. Send a Surrogate instead!
**
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Fillm Review's
'(500) Days of Summer'
This is not a love story, as is made abundantly clear from the start with comical introductory title card's preparing us for what's to come. Instead, '500 Days' chooses to turn what we've come to expect from a more traditional rom-com on its head by highlighting many aspects that would be pushed aside in less original romantic fare.
The film darts about in discontinuity as we follow Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the titular Summer (Zooey Deschannel) showcasing the up's and down's of their growing relationship over 500 days. From the excitement and energy of new love, the expectation of new beginnings and the promise of change, to the inevitable hate filled separations. Deschannel uses her quirky beauty and eyes you could just drown in to full effect, her brutally honest belief that love is fantasy becomes the main obstacle which Levitt must overcome to convince her that fate and destiny do exist.
Part love song, part fairytale, each fleeting moment is wonderfully and hilariously captured. From the excitement of finding out they love the same music to holding hands on a trip to IKEA which turns into a playful adventure, sharing stories they've never voiced with anyone else and shower sex to familiar places carrying new, depressing filled meaning and trips to the local shop in your dressing gown. The ingenious script by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber is brilliantly realized as the story unfolds in a series of broken chapters which allow us to compare the highs and lows in an realistic and often laugh out loud way - you WILL be playing a game of who can shout the loudest as soon as you venture out in public! What makes this long told tale stand out from an ongoing crowd of generic love stories is the fact that this time it's the guy who believes in fate and love while the girl "isn't really looking for anything serious"!
First time director pop-promo Marc Webb get's to experiment with a whole host of stylistic choices to render the action and externalize what's going on in our protagonist's mind, from on screen graphics to sub movies that rift on Fellini - even Harrison Ford as Han Solo makes a motivational guest appearance. Some work very well like the impromptu song and dance routine (ala Get Over It) the morning after Tom finally get's to spend the night with the girl of his dreams, or the way in which split screen is used to simultaneously play out a scene of expectation Vs reality which is both highly inventive and perfectly executed. On the other hand an annoying omniscient narrator, which luckily get's lost along the way, and the addition of yet another wise old sage in the body of a child, feel slightly out of place.
Tom get’s most of the screen time it's a shame it's not spread more evenly to allow us more incite into Summer's way of thinking. But it's down to some great performances from both leads, Levitt in particular, that the film remains grounded, not once making you cringe by becoming overly sentimental. And although the majority of the film manages to stay unpredictable it's a pity a few end scenes feel a little more expected and mainstream.
With a new wave of first time directors bursting onto the scene with some stunning debut features - Eran Creevy's 'Shifty', Neill Blomkamp's 'District 9' and now Marc Webb with '500 Days' - it's an exciting and promising time for filmmakers and film lovers alike. '500 Days' is an original, honest and incredibly funny film about how love effect’s us, other people, and ultimately - for good or bad - can change the course of our lives forever.
Is love just fantasy, you decide.
****
This is not a love story, as is made abundantly clear from the start with comical introductory title card's preparing us for what's to come. Instead, '500 Days' chooses to turn what we've come to expect from a more traditional rom-com on its head by highlighting many aspects that would be pushed aside in less original romantic fare.
The film darts about in discontinuity as we follow Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and the titular Summer (Zooey Deschannel) showcasing the up's and down's of their growing relationship over 500 days. From the excitement and energy of new love, the expectation of new beginnings and the promise of change, to the inevitable hate filled separations. Deschannel uses her quirky beauty and eyes you could just drown in to full effect, her brutally honest belief that love is fantasy becomes the main obstacle which Levitt must overcome to convince her that fate and destiny do exist.
Part love song, part fairytale, each fleeting moment is wonderfully and hilariously captured. From the excitement of finding out they love the same music to holding hands on a trip to IKEA which turns into a playful adventure, sharing stories they've never voiced with anyone else and shower sex to familiar places carrying new, depressing filled meaning and trips to the local shop in your dressing gown. The ingenious script by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber is brilliantly realized as the story unfolds in a series of broken chapters which allow us to compare the highs and lows in an realistic and often laugh out loud way - you WILL be playing a game of who can shout the loudest as soon as you venture out in public! What makes this long told tale stand out from an ongoing crowd of generic love stories is the fact that this time it's the guy who believes in fate and love while the girl "isn't really looking for anything serious"!
First time director pop-promo Marc Webb get's to experiment with a whole host of stylistic choices to render the action and externalize what's going on in our protagonist's mind, from on screen graphics to sub movies that rift on Fellini - even Harrison Ford as Han Solo makes a motivational guest appearance. Some work very well like the impromptu song and dance routine (ala Get Over It) the morning after Tom finally get's to spend the night with the girl of his dreams, or the way in which split screen is used to simultaneously play out a scene of expectation Vs reality which is both highly inventive and perfectly executed. On the other hand an annoying omniscient narrator, which luckily get's lost along the way, and the addition of yet another wise old sage in the body of a child, feel slightly out of place.
Tom get’s most of the screen time it's a shame it's not spread more evenly to allow us more incite into Summer's way of thinking. But it's down to some great performances from both leads, Levitt in particular, that the film remains grounded, not once making you cringe by becoming overly sentimental. And although the majority of the film manages to stay unpredictable it's a pity a few end scenes feel a little more expected and mainstream.
With a new wave of first time directors bursting onto the scene with some stunning debut features - Eran Creevy's 'Shifty', Neill Blomkamp's 'District 9' and now Marc Webb with '500 Days' - it's an exciting and promising time for filmmakers and film lovers alike. '500 Days' is an original, honest and incredibly funny film about how love effect’s us, other people, and ultimately - for good or bad - can change the course of our lives forever.
Is love just fantasy, you decide.
****
Monday, 7 September 2009
Film Review's
I've decided to post my review anyway, it can't hurt.
***WARNING - Contains mild spoilers***
'District 9'
One good thing that rose from the burning ashes of the $145M failure that was the 'Halo' project - the film version of the popular videogame that director Neill Blomcamp was marked to direct - was the relationship he formed with Peter Jackson, a pairing seemingly made in heaven for this late-summer sci-fi release.
Another film to mash the documentary realism of news footage, interviews and corporate promotions with a more traditional narrative, the story is expanded from Neill Blomkamps 2005 short 'Alive in Joburg'. A story of extra-terrestrial refuges forced to live in slums inside a fenced off area located in the centre of Johannesburg named District 9, kept under the watchful eye and questionable tolerance of the MNU (Multi-National United). As we follow newly promoted MNU field officer Wikus Van Der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) District 9 get's relocated 200 kilometers away to District 10, which ends up being nothing more than a concentration camp.
Early exposition reveals that the 'prawns' - a derogatory term used to describe the ET's - came to a standstill in their spacecraft over 20 years ago, seemingly broken down over a post-apartheid Joburg, and in an untold back-story were left to aimlessly fend for themselves as 'drones' after their queen died. Setting the story in Johannesburg instead of yet another US city has allowed Blomkamp to make an insightful social-commentary on South African history, the sci-fi veil may be transparent but the underlying message is clear.
Putting the city from his childhood under the microscope the 'prawns' are left to live in gang ruled tin shantytown's (think of Soweto in the late 80's) patrolled by trigger-happy guards who mistreat and spit xenophobic abuse at the creature's who are exploited and abused throughout. The aliens themselves are brilliantly conceived, so far from humanoid but, amazingly, still managing to elicit an emotional resonance.
We follow the planned eviction and subsequent events through the eyes of Wikus as he leads a documentary crew into District 9. Wikus is likable enough, the way he bumbles around is amusing, but deep down he's a cold pencil-pushing creep with an eye for promotion and revels with sickening fascination as he watches illegal alien 'eggs' pop as they get aborted by fire. Copley has an interesting journey and certainly the widest arc which is excellently captured, the oppressor becoming oppressed - it's hard to believe that most of his lines were improvised - standing out in a cast of unknowns. Sci-fi nods can be felt throughout, as can Peter Jackson's influence with the gross out sound effects, exploding bodies and blood spattered cameras. 'ET', 'Robocop' 'the Fly' and 'Aliens', the creatures even come across like giant Gremlins as they mischievously roam their demoralized homes with a taste for rubber tires and cat food.
When Wikus sprouts an alien claw after his body gets exposed and fused with alien DNA, he begins to goes through a series of Brundlesque changes - both physically and mentally - and ends up as something of a freedom fighter. Captured by MNU he's subjected to many of the experiments that have been carried out on the species since their arrival. Forced to test alien weaponry, at one stage having to kill 'prawns', he soon get's his eyes opened to the corrupt agency he's ultimately been a part of. After managing to escape Wikus is forced into hiding in the one place he thinks he won't be found, back with the only people that may be able to help, back into District 9.
Even when he teams up with alien-with-a-plan partner, the amusingly named Christopher Johnson, he remains selfish, his motives for helping down to blind panic at the thought of what he's starting to become. Although this does lead to one of the most exciting and well staged sequences in the film as they mount an assault on the main MNU building to recover said DNA with the understanding it holds the secret to a cure. The extended scenes are truly stunning, especially when the action escalates and Wikus get's to suit up in a mech-style battle unit in the film's final fight. Car's flip, bodies get shot/exploded/crushed by a pig (seriously) and torn apart.
The film certainly has its problems, most of which don't become apparent until you've left the cinema. The pace moves along so quickly that plot holes get skipped over, although this does leave the story wide open for a possible and very welcomed sequel, and for a film so concerned with stamping out stereotypes the overlord who rules over District 9 has an unhealthy obsession with black magic! Although the villains are by-the-book and do no more that what's asked of them, it does go someway to adding to the enjoyment of their inevitable demise. What's more likely to offend is the choice in filming style, shaky-cam is on the rise again and it's something that will put people off. It does feel fresh and the way it which it's used is justified but it doesn't help that the film chooses to change a third of the way in, reverting to more familiar editing techniques which come across as jarring and does take you out of the action momentarily. It's also a shame that we never see more than a handful of the supposed 1.5M inhabitants of D9 but for $30M the level of work on show is amazing.
What came as a bit of a surprise was how emotionally affecting the film was. The attachment it leads you to feel for its CGI characters is quite shocking, lending to feeling's of real concern for them, in no small way down to the historical relevance which manages to augment the story as well as heighten audience connection. Neill Blomkamp has made good on the promise of 'Alive in Joburg' with an original take on the sci-fi genre. Certainly a talent to watch out for and standing under the wing of Peter Jackson it's exciting to think about where he may end up in a few years time.
****
'Alive in Joburg' - Neill Blomkamps 2005 short on which 'District 9' is based.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNReejO7Zu8
***WARNING - Contains mild spoilers***
'District 9'
One good thing that rose from the burning ashes of the $145M failure that was the 'Halo' project - the film version of the popular videogame that director Neill Blomcamp was marked to direct - was the relationship he formed with Peter Jackson, a pairing seemingly made in heaven for this late-summer sci-fi release.
Another film to mash the documentary realism of news footage, interviews and corporate promotions with a more traditional narrative, the story is expanded from Neill Blomkamps 2005 short 'Alive in Joburg'. A story of extra-terrestrial refuges forced to live in slums inside a fenced off area located in the centre of Johannesburg named District 9, kept under the watchful eye and questionable tolerance of the MNU (Multi-National United). As we follow newly promoted MNU field officer Wikus Van Der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) District 9 get's relocated 200 kilometers away to District 10, which ends up being nothing more than a concentration camp.
Early exposition reveals that the 'prawns' - a derogatory term used to describe the ET's - came to a standstill in their spacecraft over 20 years ago, seemingly broken down over a post-apartheid Joburg, and in an untold back-story were left to aimlessly fend for themselves as 'drones' after their queen died. Setting the story in Johannesburg instead of yet another US city has allowed Blomkamp to make an insightful social-commentary on South African history, the sci-fi veil may be transparent but the underlying message is clear.
Putting the city from his childhood under the microscope the 'prawns' are left to live in gang ruled tin shantytown's (think of Soweto in the late 80's) patrolled by trigger-happy guards who mistreat and spit xenophobic abuse at the creature's who are exploited and abused throughout. The aliens themselves are brilliantly conceived, so far from humanoid but, amazingly, still managing to elicit an emotional resonance.
We follow the planned eviction and subsequent events through the eyes of Wikus as he leads a documentary crew into District 9. Wikus is likable enough, the way he bumbles around is amusing, but deep down he's a cold pencil-pushing creep with an eye for promotion and revels with sickening fascination as he watches illegal alien 'eggs' pop as they get aborted by fire. Copley has an interesting journey and certainly the widest arc which is excellently captured, the oppressor becoming oppressed - it's hard to believe that most of his lines were improvised - standing out in a cast of unknowns. Sci-fi nods can be felt throughout, as can Peter Jackson's influence with the gross out sound effects, exploding bodies and blood spattered cameras. 'ET', 'Robocop' 'the Fly' and 'Aliens', the creatures even come across like giant Gremlins as they mischievously roam their demoralized homes with a taste for rubber tires and cat food.
When Wikus sprouts an alien claw after his body gets exposed and fused with alien DNA, he begins to goes through a series of Brundlesque changes - both physically and mentally - and ends up as something of a freedom fighter. Captured by MNU he's subjected to many of the experiments that have been carried out on the species since their arrival. Forced to test alien weaponry, at one stage having to kill 'prawns', he soon get's his eyes opened to the corrupt agency he's ultimately been a part of. After managing to escape Wikus is forced into hiding in the one place he thinks he won't be found, back with the only people that may be able to help, back into District 9.
Even when he teams up with alien-with-a-plan partner, the amusingly named Christopher Johnson, he remains selfish, his motives for helping down to blind panic at the thought of what he's starting to become. Although this does lead to one of the most exciting and well staged sequences in the film as they mount an assault on the main MNU building to recover said DNA with the understanding it holds the secret to a cure. The extended scenes are truly stunning, especially when the action escalates and Wikus get's to suit up in a mech-style battle unit in the film's final fight. Car's flip, bodies get shot/exploded/crushed by a pig (seriously) and torn apart.
The film certainly has its problems, most of which don't become apparent until you've left the cinema. The pace moves along so quickly that plot holes get skipped over, although this does leave the story wide open for a possible and very welcomed sequel, and for a film so concerned with stamping out stereotypes the overlord who rules over District 9 has an unhealthy obsession with black magic! Although the villains are by-the-book and do no more that what's asked of them, it does go someway to adding to the enjoyment of their inevitable demise. What's more likely to offend is the choice in filming style, shaky-cam is on the rise again and it's something that will put people off. It does feel fresh and the way it which it's used is justified but it doesn't help that the film chooses to change a third of the way in, reverting to more familiar editing techniques which come across as jarring and does take you out of the action momentarily. It's also a shame that we never see more than a handful of the supposed 1.5M inhabitants of D9 but for $30M the level of work on show is amazing.
What came as a bit of a surprise was how emotionally affecting the film was. The attachment it leads you to feel for its CGI characters is quite shocking, lending to feeling's of real concern for them, in no small way down to the historical relevance which manages to augment the story as well as heighten audience connection. Neill Blomkamp has made good on the promise of 'Alive in Joburg' with an original take on the sci-fi genre. Certainly a talent to watch out for and standing under the wing of Peter Jackson it's exciting to think about where he may end up in a few years time.
****
'Alive in Joburg' - Neill Blomkamps 2005 short on which 'District 9' is based.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNReejO7Zu8
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