A provocative, grim, violent, disturbing masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2009)

I admit to being puzzled at those here who praise "District 9" as a superb action film with lots of kick ass scenes. For me, the brilliance of "District 9" is in its unrelenting grim and cynical portrayal of ALL of humanity, whether it be the multinational corporation out to exploit the aliens for their weapons technology, the Nigerian warlord who exploits the aliens for their love of "catfood," or even the anti-hero of the film (he is clearly not a "hero") who until the very end is a selfish, self-centered and dim-witted twerp, drunk on his new found power and promotion and as racist and demeaning to the aliens as anyone else.
But even better than this aspect is how the writer and director allowed the aliens to be "human" in a very non-traditional way, i.e. they are JUST like us but only look different. Some of them are smart, some are dumb, some are violent, some are passive, some are compassionate, some are angry. It's amazing how few reviews I have read pick up on this VERY unique twist to a usual SF cliché. In SO many SF films, the aliens are either "noble and pure" or "violent and homicidal." The aliens in "District 9" are just like humans, i.e. they can be "anything," not just all good or all bad. This is, IMO, intentional and is an underlying theme of the film. The difference between us is only skin deep.
For me, there are several gut-wrenching scenes in the film that stand out: when Wikkus is forced to kill the alien "test subject" with his alien weapon,when "Christopher" discovers the alien butchering that is being done for weapon research, and the final scene which I will leave unmentioned. These scenes were profoundly disturbing yet beautifully done and I admit to almost breaking into tears more than once.
The most shatteringly original aspect of "District 9" has nothing to do with the visuals (which are indeed jaw-dropping but again they serve the dystopian vision more than anything else) but instead is how at the end of the movie, the most compassionate "human" scene in the entire movie is the one between "Christopher" and his son as they leave...as the parent tenderly pats the youngster on his head. It is the ONLY moment of tenderness in the movie UNTIL the final soul-searing shot and THAT closing shot only underlies the director's and screenwriter's bleak view of humanity (one I share, by the way) since the character is no longer human at all.
Summing up, the sheer oppressiveness of the (genius) dystopian vision which is "District 9" makes the depressing "Children of Men" look like a Disney cartoon. While there is an undeniable visceral thrill at the vengeance enacted by Wikkus at the film's end, it reminds us of how we reacted during the helicopter attack in "Apocalypse Now" in which we were exhilarated yet repulsed at how wanton our bloodlust was. We want the evil doers punished, but as the film makes clear, WE ARE the evil doers ourselves.
As Pogo once opined "We have met the enemy, and he is us."