District 9 Review

For years I have been living in ignorance of what science fiction really is. Too long have I been brainwashed by crappy, less-than-intelligent blockbusters like Transformers, Terminator Salvation, and the overrated Star Trek reboot. Too long have I been fooled into thinking that this genre was a lost cause, a near corps gasping for air being pummeled by the near irrevocable bludgeoning of Michael Bay and other brainless, sorry excuses for directors. Too long have I thought this genre long past its golden days of glory. But as I walked out of "District 9" I knew that I had become cleansed of my sinful ignorance, I knew now what science fiction is meant to be like.

I think I was one of the few people who was actually looking forward to “District 9.” Ever since seeing the first trailer I was sold. After all, Peter Jackson filming (or rather supervising the filming of) aliens in South Africa, how much more information does one need? However, enough with my anticipation, I must digress. As it begins, The film lulls us in with its wildly original setting and mockumentary film style. 28 years ago an alien spaceship stopped over Johannesburg, South Africa. Through mock-interviews the film tells us that for months the ship stalled over the city, doing nothing, simply hovering. After some time, the South African government decided that if the aliens wouldn't come to them, they would go to aliens. However, nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to find. Cutting a hole in the ship, they discovered nearly a million filthy, starving aliens. Rehabilitation efforts were promptly started for the aliens, this of course included new food and shelter.
At first, the government relocated the aliens to the shanty suburbs of Johannesburg, but as alien and human cultures began to collide they realized that the aliens must be moved once again. To ease the process, the government hired a weapons corporation interested in the alien's technology to help concentrate them into the small area. Quickly, what was a rehabilitation process instead became ostracization. The shanty dedicated to the aliens became titled District 9 (no doubt a stab at the apartheid's District 6.)

However, “District 9” isn't about that, rather it is about a bureaucrat named Wikus Van de Merwe. Wikus most definitely does not come off as the type of character one would like. He's a skinny, scrawny, spineless, pencil pusher and neither the film nor Wikus himself tries to hide that fact. The most recent task appointed to this roach of a person is to once again move the aliens (or rather as the locals call them “prawns”) from their shanty in adjacent to Johannesburg to a new camp one hundred and fifty kilometers outside of the city. And on that note, “District 9” does a marvelous job in making us care for these poor creatures. On one hand, they're disgusting, insecticidal and well, alien. On the other hand, we can't help but sympathize with them because of the revolting life style they're forced into. However, there also seems to be those of them who are more sentient and capable. Needless to say, Wikus inadvertently gets mixed up with the more capable of them.

For the first half of the film we're expect explosions and gunfights, and I thank whatever gods there may be that “District 9” does not allow such foolishness. Instead it takes its time in easing us into the setting, saving the third act for action, and boy oh boy, what action! Not only is the action good as pure action, but the fact that we're actually attached to characters gives us a reason to care what's happening. In other words, the action doesn't exist purely for the sake of being there, it exists for the sake of engrossment. I won't go into the details of the action though, I'll let you be pleasantly surprised.

Overall “District 9” succeeds in being in a good film because of its wildly original premise and its sharp, gritty, and wonderfully executed drama and action sequences. If you like action movies you'll love it, if you can appreciate wildly original story you'll love it, and if you're a science fiction lover this movie will be like a breath of fresh air after having the gargantuan mess of Michael Bay's transformers pummeling your body.