HOLLYWOOD POV: "District 9"

It’s hard to keep creating original Sci Fi/Horror films because there have already been so many unusual and original takes on just about anything supernatural, which is, perhaps, why it has always been my favorite genre ever since I was a kid. And in the tradition of creativity and re-imagination of such films, DISTRICT 9 does not disappoint. Dirty, gritty, and painfully realistic, DISTRICT 9, is an allegory of life under apartheid, only here the black Africans who are kept in government camps are instead alien shrimp from outer space, and the white Afrikaners in power are everyone else.

An edgy and intelligent action-packed Sci-Fi thriller, DISTRICT 9 opens with a documentary-style series of interviews and behind-the-scenes events that explain what has been going on for the past twenty years over the city of Johannesburg in South Africa. The title and premise of the film were inspired by historical events that took place in District Six in South Africa under apartheid.

A huge strangely-shaped alien space ship comes to a halt and hovers over Jo’burg when an important piece of the ship falls off. Stuck in space, the spaceship just hovers, so after a while humans in helicopters cut their way in and find a large group of sick and malnourished aliens that look alarmingly like crickets or praying mantis. Their appearance leads the South African humans to call the aliens “prawns” – a derogatory term that is spit out at them at every opportunity and is, in fact, used so often that it becomes accepted by all.

The alien leaders seem to be missing and the aliens found in the ship are judged by the humans to be worker-prawns since they appear to show no leadership skills. They are forced off their foundering ship and into a government camp directly below them on the outskirts of Jo’burg. Pushing all the aliens into one small camp leads to overcrowding and turns the area into a slum called DISTRICT 9 that looks like - and is - a giant pile of garbage. The South African government creates a private company known as Multi-National United (MNU) to deal with the problem – but their real interest is in making the aliens’ awesome weapons work. The only thing MNU has found out is that alien DNA is needed to make the weapons work so they can realize awesome profits.

DISTRICT 9 opening sequences introduce us to its star, 35 year old South African filmmaker-turned-acting-newcomer (and a pal of DISTRICT 9 director Neill Blomkamp) Sharlto Copley, who plays Wikus Van De Merwe (pronounced Vig-us Van Da Mer-va, a last name, I’m told, as common as Smith is in the West). Copley is probably one of the most annoying actors you’ll ever see, but he is also perfectly cast as a mid-level bureaucrat who got his job thanks to nepotism, and he’s placed in charge of evicting the aliens from District 9 to an even more disgusting location out in the middle of nowhere. Copley’s sharp and clipped South African accent makes him a bit hard to understand but is actually perfect for his role of clueless alien re-locator.

Accompanied by a group of Hummer’s and paramilitary troops in a raid to move the aliens, Wikus begins knocking on doors in District 9. Somehow in the intervening years humans have learned how to understand the aliens language, but thankfully the audience is treated to subtitles. The camera focuses in on 3 aliens, a child and 2 adults who are scrummaging through one of a thousand of garbage pile in the huge garbage dump that is DISTRICT 9. They find something and bring it to a hut that is set up like a laboratory.

They appear to distill a liquid out of what they found and they store the strange liquid in a canister and hide it. Wikus comes to their door and the aliens run, and poor unlucky Wikus finds the canister after hurting his hand in the attempt. He wraps up his hand and continues evictions. While trying to figure out what the canister holds he accidentally sprays some of the liquid on his face. He takes the device and tries to evict the hut’s occupant; an alien MNU has named Christopher Johnson. Christopher questions the legality of the eviction and demands his rights, cluing us into Christopher's alien intelligence. He is manhandled and runs for escape.

That night Wikus gets sick and is taken to a hospital. When they unwrap his injured hand they find that his left arm is now an alien appendage. MNU takes him into custody because they think he will now be able to operate the alien weapons. He does, but the scientists want to harvest his organs for their research. But Wikus’s new alien DNA gives him great strength enabling him to escape their clutches.

With nowhere to turn, Wikus finds refuge in, of course, DISTRICT 9 where he eventually teams up with Christopher to fight MNU and the evil Nigerians who have taken control of the district by stealing and reselling just about anything that moves to the aliens. Of paramount interest to the aliens is cat food, which to them is like a drug, and the evil Nigerians corner the cat food market in DISTRICT 9. Of paramount interest to the Nigerians are the alien weapons which to them is like manna from heaven. To make matters worse for Wikus the paralyzed Nigerian warlord Obesandjo is obsessed with possessing Wikus’ left arm. You do the math.

The alien weapons truly are awesome as are the SpEfx that show them off. Christopher the alien is, of course, more human than the real humans, and as Wikus changes into a prawn he too shows more humanity. For a change, it’s nice to see that the aliens who come to Earth are confused and befuddled rather than the metal or insect-like predators we are more used to seeing in this sort of film.

Director Neill Blomkamp first conceived the idea of DISTRICT 9 when he wrote and directed the 2005 short ALIVE IN JOBURG which also utilized the documentary format and the visual effect work he was known for after directing a trilogy of live-action shorts set in the Halo universe to promote the release of Halo 3, and known collectively as LANDFALL.

The first two acts ramp up the action and SpEfx, but the third act is a small let-down, and despite the films general level of creativity, it ends with a basic shoot-em-up. But that’s easy to take given the level of inventiveness in the film. If you’re a gamer or a SciFi aficionado DISTRICT 9 is a must-see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ © 2009 by Digital Dogs~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Digital Dogs rating: A-

MPAA rating: R for bloody violence and pervasive language.

Running Times: 113 Minutes

Producers Ken Kamins, Bill Block, Paul Hanson, Peter Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham, Philipps Boyens, Director Neill Blomkamp, Screenplay Neill Blomkamp, DP Trent Opaloch, Editor Julian Clarke, Music Clinton Shorter, Actors Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, John Sumner

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		Digital Dogs, Gather Movies Correspondent - Los Angeles
	Digital Dogs' column, HOLLYWOOD POV, published every Thursday to Gather Essentials: Movies is an insider's look at the art, people, and product of Hollywood. Digital Dogs is an opinionated writer, editor, and digital designer who lives and works in the Entertainment Capital of the world. DigiDogs' unique reviews are usually written well before a film's release date, and definitely worth the advance look at the films that influence the world. Keep up with Digital Dogs' movie review series by joining her network, or subscribing to her content.