District 9 Well, wow. Ok, I was blown away by this movie. Hands down, the best sci-fi in… well, I can’t remember when I last saw a sci-fi flick that was this GREAT. The first things I will mention are the aspects which I did NOT like about it, mainly cause there aren’t many. The first is the fact that while it was toted as an original sci-fi (which it was) it used some very typical sci-fi mechanics (ie lasers which turned humans into a pink mist, tractor beams, your usual alien technologies). Second is that the main actor (Sharlto Copley) while playing his role quite well, was not given enough time to show a more believable character transformation through the movie. I say this, but the choices his character (Wikus Van De Merwe) has to make flow very well through the story.

Ok, what DID I like? Everything else! This movie was shot with a reported $31 million budget, by a first time director (Neill Blomkamp) who also co-wrote the story. The deal with ‘District 9′ is that Peter Jackson and Blomkamp were taken in by Fox and Universal to do a Halo movie. After a power struggle between the two studios, they pulled the plug, leave Jackson and Blomkamp with nothing. So what do two talented directors do? They set out to make a genre busting sci-fi. A pair of real cowboys those two. Blomkamp got his first job in the movie biz with the help of his friend. So he returned the favor by giving the lead role in District 9 to Copley. Talk about positive karma.

As far as the story goes, I wont reveal too much. Twenty years ago an alien ship parks over Johannesburg South Africa, after months of no contact, we bust in and find hundreds of thousands of alien ‘drones’ (think working class bees or ants) who are malnourished. In a “humanitarian effort” we ship them down to the ground. But the aliens turn out to be more than we can handle so we force them to live in a ghetto scarily reminiscent of Nazi occupied Poland. All these facts are brought to you by documentary style footage as the whole intro of the story unfolds. And while I love these types of movies (think Cloverfield) it does transition into your normal movie footage, with the occasional docu-scene spattered in.

As the movie went on, I found myself anxiously on the edge of my seat waiting for the adrenaline filled, almost too intense moments to pass. They never really do, at least, not for me. The director knew what he was doing for sure and Peter Jackson made a smart move putting himself behind Blomkamp.

Copley gave a wonderful performance, especially since there was almost no script and many scenes were done improv/ad lib. In actuality, Copley carried the story, getting only minor support from other actors (I would say Copley was in about 75% of the shots). His acting was incredible, I felt his pain at every turn. The main supporting actor that added a very wonderful and non-human dimension was an alien, Christopher I believe. He was portrayed completely CG, yet was also completely believable.

Speaking of which, the visual affects were great, seeing as everyone involved has had experience in that realm. At first the aliens (referred to as pawns by the locals) appear a bit out of place, but then you get to know the world they live in and they fit right in place. The editing was phenomenal, camera work was shaky but just right, and the cinematography was kept in a the documentary style, helping you see this as it’s own world and not just another movie.

Final Word: If you like sci-fi, you will love this movie. If you like action, you will love this movie. If you like intense movies, you will like this one. The bottom line is that this was beyond a good movie. On the way home Emily asked me which was better, this or Slumdog Millionaire. I keep my genre lines thick and separate. Everyone knows Slumdog was one of the best movies of our time. I will say that District 9 *IS* the best sci-fi of our time. District 9 crosses the line between warm and fuzzy aliens (E.T., Close Encounters) and the kill all aggressive aliens (Predator, Independence Day). It brings sci-fi back to what it originally was, a median in which to deal with social issues. At the end of the movie it was the aliens we sympathized with, because we saw Van De Merwe literally be changed. I cannot help but feel Blomkamp telling us that this sort of prejudice is exactly what millions of people still deal with, and how would WE feel if we had to experience it.