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| An evocative, volatile poster for Neill Blomkamp's District 9 |
QUICK REVIEW:
An alien life-form has landed its massive spaceship over Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1982, and have been rescued out of it to stay in a slum part of the city. Now, they are to be moved to a new area.
I wasn't captivated by District 9 the first time I saw it. And seeing it again, I find that I like it even less now than I did at first. It is the feature debut of South African writer-director Neill Blomkamp (Elysium (2013)), who wrote it with Terri Tatchell (Chappie (2015)), based on his short Alive in Joburg (2005).
The main reason for my dislike of the film, which has a huge (for me inexplicable) attraction on many people, is the protagonist, who serves as the anchor of the film: He is a bureaucrat with no extenuating qualities whatsoever, who we are nonetheless required to shower with our deference and attention in order to take in District 9 the way it's supposed to be taken in. Sharlto Copley (The A-Team (2010)) plays him like a real moron, who I fast felt I didn't want to hang out with at all.
There are no other nice humans in the film as well, and the 'prawns' (the derogatory slang for the aliens) are repugnant in the extreme. So my problem with District 9 basically is that I don't want any of them to win anything. And that I don't give a rat's butt what happens to any of them.
Blomkamp has served up his native city in as ugly a scoop as he could have made here, and he tells the story as if it's the work of a documentary crew. District 9 is full of disgusting scenes and ugliness, little to no charm or music and no stars to break the fall for someone with no penchant for aggressively ugly science fiction-coated, pontificating squalor such as this.
Pontificating about what, you might ask? - Something about racism, slum existence and dehumanization. - South Africa has massive slum, social and cultural problems, which the aliens become an integral part of here.
The film has striking effects, creatures and CGI. Watching it makes me so happy to live in a country that is distinctly not South Africa.
Related post:
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Watch the trailer for the film here
Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 210.8 mil. $
= Huge hit
[I obviously can't really explain what made people fall over their own feet to get to watch this film, but they did: It opened #1 in North America with a 37.3 mil. $ opening weekend and grossed 115.5 mil. $ (55 % of the total gross) there. It was met with great reviews and was even 4-time Oscar-nominated: For Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Visual Effects and Editing, - becoming the first found-footage movie to be nominated for Best Picture.]
What do you think of District 9?
What stroke of genius is it that I am missing ... ?
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