The Final Exam: District 9

DISTRICT 9 won me over before I had even seen the film. The marketing team with TriStar pictures should be congratulated for their successes with this movie. The intelligence behind its mysterious and viral media blitz proves once again how a carefully crafted buzz helps lower budget movies gain exposure by gradually building momentum in the upcoming months before its release.

Seriously, 6 months ago, who would have predicted that DISTRICT-9 would rake in 37 million on its opening weekend while becoming one of the highest rated films on IMDB, and 2009’s list of movies on Rotten Tomatoes?

NOTE: Maxim magazine has DISTRICT 9 listed at the low end of there anticipated summer movies of 2009, sandwiched right between THE PROPOSAL and THE UGLY TRUTH. Yikes.

DISTRICT 9 is an interesting companion to the 2008 JJ Abrams produced monster flick CLOVERFIELD. BOTH movies were filmed with the EXACT SAME modest budget of 30 million dollars. BOTH movies relied on mysteries within their plot details to generate a horde of intrigued filmgoers to “see what it was all about.” BOTH movies use faux-realism to enhance the realities of what is being captured on the screen. BOTH movies used famous producers in order to help legitimize the feature debuts of the directors.

(JJ Abrams helped Matt Reeves with CLOVERFIELD and Peter Jackson helped Neil Blomkamp with D-9)

What sets DISTRICT 9 apart from CLOVERFIELD is the fact that D9 shows you the alien beings in the trailer (and heavily throughout the film). CLOVERFIELD’s biggest draw was the lack of knowledge on what the monster actually looked like.

D-9 really is an incredible film.

The narrative shifts so frequently that its genre is particularly difficult to classify. Science Fiction, Comedy, Action, Drama, Documentary –If you took SCHINDLERS LIST, BLADE RUNNER, STARSHIP TROOPERS, THE OFFICE and mixed them into a blender with the HALF-LIFE video game series, you’d have DISTRICT 9.

It sounds strange. At times, it is strange—but it’s extremely entertaining.

Neil Blomkamp has a bright future in the business. His ability to use dramatic irony to build tension and create suspense was remarkably astute for a first time director. What’s even more impressive and talked about frequently is the stellar performance of the films protagonist, the first time actor, Sharlto Copley.

Copley is extremely adept with his performance. The character Wikus changes throughout the film in a deeply moving and realistic portrayal of what makes one human. The film makes numerous statements on the human condition. The horrors of poverty, the other, the unknown – these central issues attack the fundamentally immoral nature of mass media/government/etc. Blomkamp’s choice/unconventional setting of South Africa also aids his attack on the “evil” powers that run virtually all institutions.

Quick Plot Rundown:

Aliens come to earth by accident in a possible ship malfunction. A FEMA/UN like group cuts into the ship and provides care for the alien race in a facility/area called DISTRICT 9. Quickly becoming a slum, the aliens are forced to live there for 20 years while top secret information is secretly kept from the public—the aliens possess advanced weapon systems and a bidding war for the keys to their technology is keeping them on the planet.

Wikus is hired to lead a nationwide eviction of the district residents as the government is now moving them to new land (a la the Trail of Tears). Shit goes wrong. Shit gets nuts.

These alien weapons make the gadgets from GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA seem like children’s toys. Truly like a great video game, it was almost upsetting to recognize during my viewing that Peter Jackson had once lined Neil Blomkamp up for the major motion picture adaptation of the HALO franchise. While Blomkamp is no longer the potential director for that project, D-9 really shows off Blomkamp’s knack for staging futuristic combat sequences that would have been perfect for HALO, alas, seeing Blomkamp’s work here is compelling.

This is a sci-fi film that creates its alternate universe with a ridiculous sense of realism.

D-9 had me totally immersed in the story so effectively at times, that I forgot that what I was watching was completely fabricated (the effects team does amazing work throughout the entire movie). It looks real, it feels real.

Quite impressive.

The Final Exam

How does the movie compare to other films from the director?

Blomkamp’s debut feature is a contemporary masterwork in the science fiction genre. I enjoyed the shit out of Danny Boyles flick SUNSHINE, but DISTRICT 9 is on an entirely different level. For a first film, it’s hard to do any better then this.

Is the movie effective?

Yes, the millions of “prawns,” an alien race housed in the slums of South Africa comes across as a plausible feature of the human experience during our time, therefore, the film is effective. Blomkamp carefully crafts certain subtexts which bring up feelings on par with the best dramatic films that use “real,” historically tragic events in order to make a grander statement.

Would I watch the film again?

Yes, absolutely. This is the type of film that gets better every time you see it. I’ve seen it once, so maybe that’s an arrogant/naive statement, but this movie had me glued to the screen for its entirety. That’s no easy feat.

Best aspect of the film?

Sharlto Copley’s transformation as a character is thrilling (on many levels). The action is badass. The aliens don’t look stupid which was a major concern I had going into the theater.

Worst aspect of the film?

The comedic tone in a few scenes takes away from the serious statements that Blomkamp attempts to make. Some of the jokes work amazingly well, but from time to time, I thought that the humor was misplaced or timed wrong.

Final Grade + Viewing Suggestion?

91/100 “A-“

This film is easily one of 2009’s best. Don’t miss your shot at catching this movie in the theater. You will be surprised, horrified, thrilled, entertained…pretty much any state of mind you can name when describing the perfect cinematic experience is on tap here.