Like Cloverfield, but more engaging, satisfying, and cinematic!!!

Rating: 8/10 (13 November 2009)

District 9 is filmed similarly to movies like Cloverfield and Quarantine, with a very non-fiction feel. I've seen Cloverfield, but not Quarantine, so I recall that Cloverfield was meant to create the illusion of one of its main characters holding the actual camera that presents this movie like a homemade video, but this is not so for District 9 even though it still has some of that "Reality TV" feel to it, if you will. District 9 starts out clearly as a mockumentary, but as the action unfolds, it breaks this form, but does not do away with it, simply because the main character has to begin his adventure, which we see playing out in as close to real-time as possible. So, this is a movie that looks like a documentary, unfolds similarly to a more conventional narrative, and which uses cinematography that includes camera angles that you would see used in newscasting or interviews, security surveillance footage, and more conventional continuous presentation, but which is typically called "shakycam" when it doesn't have a legitimate reason to look so DIY, like when the character Wikus first goes on the run and is, when you think about it, all by his lonesome even though the camera is still right there next to him, so how is that supposed to be explained? At least Cloverfield had a consistent reason for looking shaky throughout the entire film: the government found the tape in the rubble; it was a home movie! I'll continue using Cloverfield as an example because of the two film's technical similarities, contemporary status, and because I like both J.J. Abrams and Neill Blomkamp, who I feel are both going to bring us a lot of great things throughout their lives.
I think that both of these films present good modernizations of stories we're all ready familiar with. Cloverfield is re-hash of the Godzilla idea, which if you read about on the Internet will show to be a metaphor for the destruction and fear caused by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan in World War 2. Godzilla was a matter of Japanese identity, but since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Americans now also have a similar situation to find a new identity in the face of so much change, and fear, I say. So, this kind of monster movie applies to us and Cloverfield is very heavy-handed in its presentation of this fear via a singular image in the film, the wall of dust rushing toward the protagonists as a building collapses in the background because the monster tripped over it or something.
Appreciating this heavy-handedness in Cloverfield, I commend District 9 for having a more positive message instead of creating only a spectacular thrill ride, which it also does create and in ways much cooler i.e. with awesome sci-fi tech. Firstly, the film doesn't take place in New York City, but in Johannesburg, South Africa, which is not explained in the context of the film, but which has an allegorical meaning because of the Apartheid injustices that occurred there in history, the aliens in this movie face racial segregation also, in the titular district. Well, if the movie is a sort of allegory, then it must be recognized that Apartheid officially ended in South Africa, so there is a necessary light at the end of the tunnel for the characters whereas in Cloverfield, well no one knows if the world will ever be free of terrorism. Indeed, at the end of Cloverfield, after the monster has been bombed to supposed death, a whispered piece of audio on the tape seems to say, "It's still alive" However, I do recognize that racism does still exist in the world and probably in South Africa, the ties that bind can be cut, but after being so tight for so long, they leave indentations.
Secondly, when you watch District 9 you will see that it is of course about change away from what is and a desire to change back to what was. So, it also presents an ambiguity about change, definitely on the individual level and maybe even on the societal level, which makes the film more interesting than Cloverfield because its debatable what kind of change is good and what kind of change is bad. So, that's why I think D9's story is more engaging than Cloverfield's.
I think the acting is good in District 9. Sharlto Copley's Wikus Van DeMerwe is a really strong character in a different way than a traditional action hero. He's a lovable geek and a basically stand-up person who is put into an extraordinary situation. I'm reminded of Lieutenant Ripley, these character's indignations and emotions are so much more genuine and concerned and outraged than say those of a physically huge male character that I relate more to their plight's, they're my size in body and in mind.
Neill Blomkamp is a fan of the cinematography (cinematographer: Trent Opalach) that he uses in District 9. I don't think he chose it just for this movie because if you watch the Halo: Landfall Trilogy, directed by Neill Blomkamp, you'll see it again in that project in fine form. Other than that, I don't know what to say about Blomkamp's directing.
I did read that Blomkamp's short film Alive In Joburg received many accolades for featuring excellent visual effects, probably due to what I also read of his background as a professional animator, which caught the eye of Peter Jackson, hence "Peter Jackson Presents"; District 9 is the feature length adaptation of Alive In Joburg, which can be viewed on YouTube. The visuals effects in District 9 are the best illusions you'll see in the movies today, but don't forget that Avatar comes out December 18, 2009.