DISTRICT 9 Review

DISTRICT 9 is an incredible movie! A new sci-fi phenomenon. Writer/director Neill Blomkamp has created an original masterpiece destined to become a cult classic, celebrated for… years to come. The visual, the directing, the cinematography, even the performance of unknown Sharlto Copley are unprecedented. This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in the last decade. I can’t say it enough, what an absolutely impressive achievement. DISTRICT 9 will leave you begging for more

28 years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa’s “District 9″ as the world’s nations argued over what to do with them.
Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens’ welfare – they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens’ awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA.
The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable – he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

I try to recall any sci-fi movies in the past that may have exactly resembled this body of work down to a T in any way and I can’t seem to pinpoint one. Anybody who might have doubts about this movie should know that the name Peter Jackson is synonymous with awesome quality and he’s not going to just produce any project if he doesn’t believe in what it’s capable of. The VFX in this movie is amazing, I know that that word is loosely used these days but no other title deserves that better than DISTRICT 9. The looks on those CG aliens and how they blend with actual environment are breathtaking. The attention to details pays off.

By the way, great set and art direction, DISTRICT 9 goes all out and beyond what’s expected of a normal presentation to bring you the dirtiest slums, the nastiest, most unhealthy living condition, the grittiest bloodiest medical experiment room. It’s not for gratuitous purposes, it’s for the purpose of doing the story justice.
The pacing is borderline perfect, not a single boring moment in this movie. Every scene is calculated carefully to grab your attention and at the same time to not neglect the message that it tries to convey in the process. Not one element is sacrificed or compromised for the sake of another.

Excellent directing by Neill Blomkamp. I’m officially a new fan of his. Watch out for this visionary director because from here on out, his future projects will be the talk of town. He may not have been allowed to do a HALO movie but DISTRICT 9 is his F-U to those haters, a sign that he’s not letting anybody get his creativity down.

He knows that he’s basically gambling on a no-star movie but he has so much faith in his friend, actor Sharlto Copley that he unleashes Copley to freely portray his character and get in touch with his skills and the result is an extraordinary performance, the nobody who becomes the most important human on the planet, the unlikely hero. Since this is, after all, something that he cooked up, Blomkamp knows what situation needs to happen at hand to spark a sudden surprise that should happen right after it. With the help of cinematographer Trent Opaloch, they manage to make the audience part of the film by splashing the CG blood onto the camera. Blomkamp also knows what’s considered cool these days by teens and video gamers, it’s obvious from the action sequences, that he caters to that target audience, this movie entertains your inner kid. Bad-ass shots are what you get and nothing less.

The pseudo documentary parts are essential and they’re not distracting. In a way, they actually serve as history background, a group of talking heads looking back on those moments, wondering what the consequences will be in the near future.
The story is simple and yet powerful because it takes its lessons from human nature. It’s more than just social commentary, a mirror of refugees and the policies that concern them. You witness the development Copley’s character Wikus who’s a geek just doing his job but hating the aliens, and all of a sudden he gets infected and he gets to practically sit in the aliens’ shoes. We humans tend to quickly judge one another because we act on fear but when we put ourselves in our neighbors’ shoes, the worldview starts to change. And then the problem also develops into whose priority should come first. It gets really tough to help others when you’re in a very tough spot, selfishness vs. selflessness. Hands down, DISTRICT 9 is a must-see.

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