Scatological allegory of the Iraq War or just a good B-movie? Either way, it works.

Rating: Null/10 (26 August 2009)

29 year-old South African director Neill Blomkamp co-wrote and directed "District 9", which is based on his 2005 short film "Alive in Joburg". An alien force, after years of living in slum-like conditions on Earth, finds a pariah to their "cause" when a government agent (Sharlto Copley) is exposed to their biotechnology and has to fight a horrific physical mutation, as he runs away from the authorities who want him dead. The story is simple enough and the not-so-new, hand-held camera documentary-style approached here works, even if some might call it gimmicky.
It's hard not to see "District 9" as a scatological allegory of the Iraq War, although we can't tell for sure whether that was the filmmaker's original intention or not. Considering Peter Jackson is the producer, it could very well have been conceived as just a good B-movie, and it works as such, too (Copley, the protagonist, reminds me of Timothy Balme from Jackson's hilarious and gory cult classic "Braindead/Dead Alive"). If Kathryn Bigelow's recent "The Hurt Locker" is arguably the best open account of the Iraq tragedy so far (its vertiginous style feeling like "Black Hawk Down" with substance), "District 9" is probably the best unapologetically goofy allegory we'll get. 7/10.