Surprise Summer Hit

Rating: 7/10 (16 September 2010)

District 9 was the surprise Summer hit and it was also a great film debut for director Neill Blomkamp who was able to make one of the best sci-fi movies of the last decade. This movie had it all: great special effects, good action scenes, character development (not just of the humans but of the aliens as well), and most importantly an original plot which served as a socio-political satire on discrimination, genocide, and corporate greed. I think almost anyone could understand the message that the director was trying to get across with this sci-fi movie. He criticized how humans treat others as inferior to them and how that hatred develops amongst the different groups simply because of cultural differences. The aliens were just an excellent way to get this message across without being too preachy and at the same time making us realize how fragile we are towards others who we cant relate too. Even the hero of this movie was depicted as a person with several flaws who made very unethical decisions, but changed once he was able to relate too and identify with the aliens. I was waiting a long time to get the chance to see this movie because of the excellent word of mouth it was receiving and I wasn't disappointed once I finally got to see it.
The movie was filmed in a documentary style (like The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield) and that was a great addition to the film because it only gave it a more realistic and interesting take of the aliens and their lifestyle. The protagonist was Wikus, played by Sharlto Copley, who worked for a big corporation in charge of evicting the aliens and forcing them to live in concentration-like camps. These camps soon became slums where the aliens lived in very precarious situations and were looked down upon by the humans. Wikus is not your typical action hero, he is very unethical and treats these aliens very poorly and tries to manipulate them because he sees them as dumb and inferior beings. It is not until he accidentally splatters some bio-hazard material all over his face that we see him go through a Kafka like transformation and he also begins to see the aliens differently now and relate to them. Comparisons to the 80s movie The Fly cant be missed here as we see Wikus change not only in form, but in character as well and even becomes likable by the end of the film. He forms an unlikely duo with one of the aliens, Cristopher and in this relationship we get to see the aliens in a different light as well.
You have to give Peter Jackson a lot of credit for producing a movie like this with a first time director like Blomkamp, but the result was great. The director counted with Jacksons blessing and was able to put to use all the resources he was given delivering a great combination of special effects and fun action scenes that lived up to the standards of Summer movies with good performances from the cast and an original plot. If this was Blomkamps first movie as a director I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us as he continues to mature in his profession. His name will definitely be one I will be looking forward to in movies to come. A lot of credit has to be given to Sharlto Copleys performance as well because this movie couldn't have worked without him. He did an excellent job at depicting such an unorthodox and complex hero who went through a range of mood changes and made the audience hate him during some points of the movie and love him at others. This is a must see film that is more than just an action sci-fi movie, it is also a smart social-political satire that will be remembered for years to come.