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