DISTRICT 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009) ***

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2010)

Despite my general aversion to contemporary movie fare, I usually try to keep abreast of my favorite genre (Fantasy i.e. Horror and Sci-Fi) and, in fact, have been looking forward to catching this acclaimed recent example. Apart from its mixed origins (this is an American-Canadian-Kiwi and South African production that includes Peter Jackson as one of its producers), the film's major claim to fame is the fact that it garnered 4 Academy Award nominations including an unprecedented one for Best Picture! For what it is worth, it is also currently at No. 122 on the IMDb's all-time Top 250!!
In hindsight, I do feel that DISTRICT 9 is somewhat overrated: what we have here is, basically, a combination of Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) and James Cameron's ALIENS (1986) and, therefore, despite the obvious intelligence on display, also with a clear eye towards hitting the box office jackpot. With this in mind, one is expected to forgive (and, indeed, embrace) the presence of a 'cute' alien kid who, unexpectedly, bonds (as does his ambitious father) with the hunted (and highly unlikely) human hero. As portrayed by virtual unknown Sharlto Copley, it was a nice touch to make him a nerdy, soft-spoken and nervous type and I was disappointed to hear him burst into a constant array of expletives in the second half of the movie where he has to contend with macho South African arms dealers and his former colleagues now bent on destroying him.
Actually, the unusual South African background against which this action-packed morality play takes place adds much to the mix and perhaps even invites the film-makers' tendency towards gore and tastlessness – not least in their decision to make the prawn-like alien design such a disgusting one! Incidentally, the following day after watching this one I also caught several of director Blomkamp's previous short films, namely: ADIDAS ADICOLOR – YELLOW (**1/2), ALIVE IN JOBURG (**1/2; something of a precursor to DISTRICT 9 itself, with Copley in much the same role), CITROEN C4 – ALIVE WITH TECHNOLOGY (**), HALO – LANDFALL (**1/2), NIKE – CRAB (**), NIKE – EVOLUTION (**1/2), TEMPBOT (**1/2) and TETRA VAAL (**1/2).