District 9
District 9
Sean Lambert, Staff Writer
July 12, 2009
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Featured A&E, Movies
Once again Peter Jackson graces us with another lengthy epic well worthy of intense critical acclaim. In the directorial debut of Neill Blomkamp, District 9 bursts with realism and emotion that is a rare treat in a time of rather dull and cliché movies.
In the film, District 9 is the temporary camp set up to hold millions of refugees, not from a war torn state but from space. The plot alludes to African apartheid in South Africa from 1948 all the way up to 1994 where thousands of Africans were displaced from “white only zones”. The theme is weaved very masterfully into the storyline, making the eviction of an alien race seem completely real.
The story follows the tragic tale of Wikus Van de Merwe, played perfectly by the little known actor, Sharlto Copely, who struggles to be an ordinary human in the most extraordinary circumstances. Not to give too much away, but he doesn’t have the usual persona of an action hero. The main conflict of the story starts with the eviction of the aliens, referred to as “prawns”, and the discovery of an alien device that, through a seemingly harmless accident, forces Wikus to reclaim his humanity and hide from the very people he once felt a part of.
This movie can be easily classified as an action/science fiction film but the incredible performances and the distinctive directing give the audience a roller coaster of emotions, from almost dark humor to intense sadness. The end is the only weak point of this film. It isn’t terrible but it feels almost as if it is more geared to the sequel, it simply leaves too many loose ends. There are, also, copious amounts of graphic violence. It isn’t the splatter fest that any of the Saw movies are, though. The violence is portrayed through a very documentary-like style so it never seems like it is there just to make the viewer uncomfortable. On that note, the movie does have a lot of violence, as to be expected from an action movie. However I found that people who traditionally have a hatred for movies with guns and explosions walked away from this movie surprised at how much they liked it. In a nutshell, this movie is a genre blurring, profound, action packed, and realistic epic in a beautifully artistic shell.