District 9 - review

This is my favourite film of the year so far. Given this, and that I saw it very recently, I thought I'd have a go at a proper review that's worthy of the film. I'll keep it as spoiler-free as I can for those who haven't seen it.

This one really came out of nowhere. I hadn't even heard of it until I saw the trailer before GI Joe about a month ago. I couldn't work out exactly what the plot was- it looked bombastic and confusing, like Alien Nation meets Transformers, but shot documentary-style.

How wrong I was.

The film simply presents you with facts, documentary-style, about incidents that occurred recently in an area known as District 9. To quote Jim Dale, the facts were these...

Approximately 20 years ago, an alien spaceship appeared over Johannesburg... and that was it. After several months, nothing else had happened. The military eventually managed to get on board and evacuate the contained aliens, keeping them in an area called District 9. The aliens showed no hostility, no friendliness... in fact, no purpose whatsoever. Despite this, 20 years later, local residents are complaining of the NIMBY factor and the aliens (or "prawns" as the less-sympathetic amongst the humans amusingly refer to them) are forced to move on to a smaller, more concentrated area, referred to as District 10. It is the day before this transition that these events take place- partly in documentary-style, but we as viewers also get to see a glimpse of the true story behind the news reports.

The man in charge of the eviction is pen-pushing nepotist Wikus Van De Merwe, played to perfection by newcomer Sharlto Copley. He is a bumbling, amiable man, yet is cheerfully unaware of how casually inhumane he is. This is someone that's going to have to earn your sympathy, but yet seems too harmless to actively dislike- at least until he's given a position of power.

The other character of note is an alien, curiously named Christopher Johnson. Clearly a very different being to most of his fellows, he stands up to his species' mistreatments. Through him, we learn that not all of the aliens are necessarily the unorganised cat food-addicted rabble they appear to be. Friends or foes? The answer should be obvious, but who's going to humour them long enough to find out? There is clearly a very well-considered back story for the aliens here- but, much like the oft-compared Cloverfield, even at the end of the film we are yet to find out what it is. And even in a sequel, it's not certain we need this information. That's not to say we don't want it...

District 9 expertly magpies from existing sci fi lore - a bit of Robocop here, a bit of Aliens there, just a dash of Independence Day... but it's all only on a very superficial level. District 9 has its own story to tell, and its own points to make. For example, much is made of the human-alien transformation, but it's merely a MacGuffin; a plot device. It is only important because of where it takes our lead character. If you think the film is ripping off The Fly, then either you're not paying attention, or you are missing the point completely. Of both movies. It's like saying Orwell's Animal Farm rips off Disney's Bambi for having talking animals.

The film has a lot to say, and says it. It also has a lot to do, and just gets on with doing it. If you get the subtext, great. If you don't, it doesn't matter because the film has moved on and you won't feel like you're missing anything, anyway.

The pacing is very deliberate. Starting off as a documentary, events are leisurely explained and shown to us, with little commentary or judgement. Even when we are taken out of the documentary context, characters do not suddenly start behaving differently. It's a very deft way of setting an ominous tone. We're waiting for the sting in the tail, even if there may not be one.

For a film with such a tiny budget, not to mention a debut director in Neill Blomkamp, the special effects are flawless. The aliens are clearly CGI creations, but move, communicate and emote better than some of the humans. They are purely there to tell the story, and are far more convincing than a man in suit would be. If you've come purely for an Independence Day-style dogfights or action set-pieces, then you're in for disappointment. That said, there are some amazing shoot-outs and when Blomkamp decides to flex his action muscles, he does indeed have an impressive set of guns. (Sorry.)

Crucially, this is violence with consequence. When Wikus is forced to fire a gun, he is doing so very much against his will- even on a "prawn". We learn that the aliens' technology is incredibly powerful and see its devastating potential- yet always in the hands of humans (the irony of that statement shouldn't be lost on those who've seen the film). The aliens are deliberately insect-like, rather than cute and cuddly- giving us that extra distance to strip them of humanity, should we choose to do so. Ultimately, we judge them more on the way they are treated than the way they behave. And yet it is never over-laboured, it's just there for you to acknowledge or not.

If the film has a flaw, it's the mixture of narrative styles- we jump from documentary to movie narrative without warning- at times you don't even notice, but when you do it can pull you out of the film. However, I was so engrossed by this point I just shrugged it off. Also, there were a lot of one-dimensional characters, particularly the Nigerian gangsters, the members of MNU (the organisation for whom Wikus works), and the largely faceless hordes of aliens. However, this can simply be explained away by the leads' interactions with these characters. There's not really much time for fleshing these characters out, and they're not likely to show their vulnerable sides on the job. You could level this at the actors, an obvious drawback of a star-free vehicle, but surprisingly isn't as much of an issue as you may fear. Plus there's always a guilty pleasure in seeing a cartoon villain finally get their comeuppance.

So there you go. For me, this was a visceral, emotional and thoroughly entertaining experience; something completely unexpected. After less than a month on release, the film currently sits at #44 on the imdb all-time chart. I pity Mr. Blomkamp... how on Earth will he follow that? I, for one, can't wait to find out.

10/10