Review - District 9

Rating: 9/10 (26 September 2012)

Personally, I am a bit of a science fiction lover. I have seen tons of sic-fi films, from fun and lighthearted popcorn flicks to deep and emotional ones. I've seen clichéd and basic-formula ones, and ones that have a distinct uniqueness about them - new worlds, unique scientific concepts, memorable scientific technology and what not, and much more; and, best of all, unique twists on stories. District 9 is one such unique science fiction film. It has several obvious clichéd and borrowed aspects, but overall it's a somewhat creative film, and pretty memorable, too. I didn't see it when it came out, and, in fact, I had never even heard of it until sometime last year. So, after reading a bit about the film, yet still not knowing much about it, I decided to give it a try in May (yes, this year), and I'm glad I did.
District 9 eludes many expectations of a sic-fi audience. The film is set in an alternate timeline, where, in 1982, a spaceship appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa (instead of a usual sci-fi setting). The aliens on board, instead of being evil and strong with an urge do kill, are helpless and in weak condition. The aliens, unable to operate the ship anymore, are taken to a temporary camp on the ground underneath where the ship is hovering. Unfortunately, due to the the high population of these aliens, and to typical political flaws, over the years, the temporary camp eventually turns into a giant slum segregated from the rest of Johannesburg. Also, the initial welcome wears off, and humans begin to discriminate against the aliens, nicknamed "prawns" due to their ugly appearance. Finally, in 2010, the Multi-National United munitions corporation is sent to evict these prawns from the slum, with Wikus van der Merwe in charge. In the process, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical, at which point his personal nightmare begins and everything changes drastically for him, and the story really starts to get going and unfold. I won't give anything else away about the story after this last thing: along the way, Wikus befriends an alien, and his small son.
District 9 combines dosages of the man-befriends-other-race-and-turns-against-his-own-people theme, the don't-judge-a-book-by-it's-cover moral, political elements, elements of racism, segregation, and discrimination, and a bit of E. T. and some other themes. It uses its running time wisely and tells its story very effectively. Some of the film is in documentary-style, and part of it is in regular style, and there are even some shots seen here and there from security cameras, and things like that. Visually, the film has a gritty, ugly look about it, adds brilliantly to the tone of the film, and gives it a bit of a more realistic feel to it. Even the aliens themselves are pretty ugly, but they are very well portrayed with top-notch CGI. In fact, all of the special effects in the film are very good. Clinton Shorter composed a very effective score for this film. It's not a great score or anything, but it does help bring out the tone and emotion of the film, just like the special effects do.
There is not a single actor in the film whom I have heard of before seeing this film. However, the actors' performances are pretty good. The actors really bring out their characters very well. I liked the characters. They are strong and dynamic. Wikus is a good protagonist, and I really cared about him while watching the film. I also came to like the aliens he befriends - they may be ugly, but I really felt true emotion for them and their inner characters, who they really are inside, especially the big one (the father). I know hardly anything about director Neil Blomkamp, but he did a very good job with this film. There are definitely some things that he could have done better, and the overall film was not great, but Blomkamp did a good job overall, and gave us a pretty good film.
So, overall, while District 9 is, in my opinion, not quite an iconic or classic science fiction film, it's still pretty unique, and it has some pretty memorable things about it. It's not really something I might remember immediately many years from now as a classic film or anything, but, like I said before, it's pretty memorable. It's a smart, emotional, and entertaining science fiction film, and it's definitely worth seeing at least once.
My Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****) For more reviews, please visit my website: http://robertsreliablereviews.blogspot.com/