MOVIE OF THE WEEK (8/14/09): DISTRICT 9
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Vanessa Haywood, Louis Minnarr and David James
WRITER: Neil Blomkamp and Terri Thatchell
DIRECTOR: Neil Blomkamp
WEB SITE: http://www.d-9.com
THE PLOT: Imagine if mankind finally made contact with aliens ... But instead of them instigating an interplanetary war as we've been led to believe would happen, they are stranded here on earth ... And the powers that be won't let them leave - even though they want to go - and the reason why? No one really knows.
That is the exact situation Wikus van der Merwe (Copley) finds himself in District 9, a sci-fi thriller that examines mankind's capacity for cruelty and war as much as it does cool firefighters (although there are plenty to go around). Overseeing the aliens - who arrived on earth as refugees as the last survivors of their home planet over 20 years ago - is Multi-National United (MNU), an agency contracted to oversee their welfare. Wikus, recently promoted, is in charge of moving the aliens from their current "home" - District 9 - in Johannesburg, South Africa to another plot of land 200 kilometers away. For as fate would have it, human-alien relations have detoriated to the point our intergalatic guests are living in slums run over by crime, human intolerance and gangs/warlords. But Wikus, a happy-go-lucky go-getter who loves his job as much as his wife Tania (Haywood), is determined to do make his father-in-law/MVU boss (Minnarr) proud.
What he doesn't know, however, is the real reason MVU won't let the aliens leave - or why once he discovers the reason, Koobus (James) has been sent to make sure he is stopped before he can share it with the world.
THE TAKE: Blomkamp's film explores an old subject - the cruetly mankind is capable of, especially when it comes to getting something (in this case, more weapons) it wants. With a vibe similar to that of 28 Days Later, Children of Men and numerous other apocalyptic films, District 9 succeeds for a few simple, well-executed reasons.
First, the film is not typical in that it does insult your intelligence by rushing plot points for the sake of moving the story along. Instead, Blomkamp carefully crafts District 9 so that you get to spend time with each of the story's characters so you see and understand their motivations. In turn, the emotional investment pays off at the film's climax, balancing the mix of gunplay, emotional drama and social commentary so that each is given the necessary time and treatment to keep your attention throughout the film's nearly 2 hour run time. Instead of being over the top preachy in examining issues such as diplomacy, greed, man's violent nature, media coverage, immigration, social control, etc., the film simply plays out events as they (more or less) would in real life. When it is time for gun play, it's intense, not campy and tense as any good action film should be.
What ultimately ties the film together, however, is the acting. Too much focus on being "dramatic," and you end up with a human-are-the-bad-guys version of War of the Worlds. Too much focus on heart-pumping action and you end up with Independence Day (which has not aged well over time, but remains classic because of the memories associated with it). Instead, Copley turns in a great performance as the film's emotional center, delivering a turn that showcases a man pushed to his limits and forced to do things of which he would never seemed capable at the start of the story. The performance is balanced, though, by that of Jones in the portrayal of the lead alien Christopher Johnson (a name that helps to illustrate how humanity has forced its way onto alien society) that makes it so great. By being so vunerable in the human world and so intolerant in the alien community, Wikus shows how one can fail to recognize the error of their ways until he is forced to do so in relying on Christopher's help.
While fanboys may come simply because Peter Jackson (yes, the Lord of the Rings guy) is one of its producers, they will find District 9 delivers an entertaining and intelligent examination of the world in which we don't - or do we? - live.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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