The Media Guru

Sep 10, 2009

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district_9_poster

Aliens are stranded on Earth, living as … refugees.


district-9-poster

Spoiler warning: If you haven't watched District 9, don't read any further. ;)


district_9_poster4

Before District 9, 90% of alien movies consisted of aliens invading Earth (Transformers, War of the Worlds, Independence Day) or saving humanity (Transformers, Knowing, The Day The Earth Stood Still).
District 9 takes a unique approach towards aliens by depicting them as refugees, racially prejudiced & mistreated by humans. If you're a movie buff, then District 9 is like an oasis in the desert of remakes, sequels, adaptations & all the stereotypical movies.


The Story 

Mothership

An alien ship runs out of fuel & stations over Johannesburg in 1982. With nowhere to go, the aliens are initially given refugee status, allowing them to live in a secluded slum, District 9. However, with growing public discontent & fear of the aliens, the South African government decides to relocate them. In the process, a human, Wikus van der Merwe, is contaminated with alien DNA which triggers his transformation into an alien…


The Prawns

Prawn

Prawn is the racist term used for the aliens, which look nothing like your common aliens. The closest creature resembling it is the Cloverfield monster. The aliens were initially welcomed, but once the humans discovered that the alien technologies, especially the advanced weaponry, used a DNA-based identification, they were quickly segregated.
Without their leaders, the alien community falls apart & each is left to fend for itself. The inevitable comparison with the apartheid system is in fact correct - aliens are subdued, rationed & extorted (against cat food).
This depiction of alien xenophobia is what makes District 9 so different from other movies.


Wikus_Eviction

Christopher Johnson - that's the actual name of an alien. As the story unravels, your disgust of the aliens gradually gives way to empathy. But ask yourself this - don't we treat other humans likewise?


Wikus van der Merwe

The main character Wikus van de Merwe is brilliantly portrayed by Sharlto Copley. The only drawback was his heavy South African accent, but I've heard worse than that.
District 9 is an action movie filmed like a documentary. Once Wikus starts his transformation, the action is non-stop. But most amazing are the plot twists - you're lured to think that this is the end of it, but instead you're caught off-guard as another action sequence begins.


MNU

In terms of special effects, District 9 excels (not that we would expect less from WETA). The aliens are life-like (some wear shirts!) & there are enough explosions to satisfy even Michael Bay. The details on the alien mothership are staggering. The greatest achievement was of course the mech battlesuit. Who'd think the prawns were that intelligent?
People who don't like gore should stay away from District 9 because it contains footage of exploding body parts (both human & alien).


District_9

While & after watching District 9, you're submerged with questions - how? why? That's because so many plot details were never explained.
Why did the aliens run out of fuel? Why are they so submissive? How can a human understand alien-speak (essentially clicks & grunts). Is that where a sequel or prequel will come in? Neill Blomkamp said he would make a sequel only if the movie is successful enough…


Verdict

DIST9_WldPst_27x40_4

When I first read that District 9 is being produced by Peter Jackson, I suspected this was going to be a nice film. I was wrong. District 9 is AWESOME!
The documentary-styled narration with action, special effects & a unique scenario makes District 9 not only the best sci-fi movie of 2009 (I have yet to watch Star Trek Yes, D-9 >> Star Trek!!!), but also one of the best movies of the year. :D
Rating - 8/10

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Fadil said...

This is a good review. The battlesuit PWNS the ones of G.I. Joe. District 9 is just brilliant!

The DVD will surely incl. extra scenes (ref. death of the aliens' Queen - not mentioned in the movie)

Have you watched The Man From Earth? If not, do give it a try.

Bruno said...

:O you make me want to watch it :O

carrotmadman6 said...

@Fadil
I recently downloaded it. Will give it a try. :)

@Bruno
You MUST watch it. ;)

Sun said...

Simply awesome! the plot is really original! A completely different point of view on the aliens.. btw, you should add that the mother ship stayed still for 20 years. That's a big point.

Apart from that, i say that District9>StarTrek2009
i watched both.. but havent watched GI JOE yet.. waiting for a good print.

Nice post.. he will be back in three years in.....

District 10

Rite$h said...

nice review, will watch the movie as soon as a decent dvd copy is available

Selective Apathy... said...

Went to see this last night at the cinemas.
Best movie I have seen in a long time.
The story and imagery went together perfectly.
For me it also raised a lot of moral questions and portrayed some of the baser human natures very well.

In the end I felt a lot of compassion for the prawns and they even managed to make Christopher Johnson's son look cute at the right time while all other prawns were ugly.

I would say this was better than Star Trek which was a bit fustrating at times with the storyline.

jens said...

watch a TS but i will
Will re-watch it in HD-rip!
Its too good

Fadil said...

@Sun Blasphemy! Star Trek PWNS all.

keshav said...

I'll wait for a bluray or m-hd rip. The online reviews point in the direction that it starts slowly and ends awesomely.

Yashvin said...

Ok, I skipped directly to the comment section :P

I will be having another Avant Premiere soon GI JOE hehe ;)

Keep tuned!

Gatto999 said...

Great !...

Ciao from Italy
=^.^=

Anonymous said...

GReat film, great special effects, great ending, not so great Starcasts, Very thought- provoking......Hit.........Another thing, a sequel is needed.......:)....great blog buddy....

carrotmadman6 said...

@Anonymous
Thank you! :)

Tech said...

Weird but at the same time a great movie

Have a look at The Tournament. Great movie with lots of actions

Nirvanknight said...

Yeah... Nice movie just watch that last week, I really appreciated this movie... in particular, the "Prawns" and the actor who transform himself by getting contact with highly radioactive, toxic i think? Substance.. What do you think, will there be Number 2? or it will finish like this... as in the end the actor... is still alive and fabricating flowers for his wife ! yeah... it shows.. an attachment with aliens and humans...like in Transformers ROTF !

Hope to see D-9 - N0.2

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