District 9

District 9, the scifi feature directed by newcomer ‘Neil Blokamp’, is a stunning achievement that proves that a great sci-fi action film can not only provide the thrills and special effects, but also an extremely original and engaging narrative and biting social commentary.

Produced by Peter Jackson, the film begins with a mysterious spaceship that suddenly appears over Johannesburg and stays there for three whole months. Upon investigation, malnourished aliens are found; who are then immigrated into the slums of South Africa called District 9 and live there. 20 years later, after numerous riots and backlash against the aliens who now live among the humans (and are dubbed ‘prawns’), a shady government organization called MNU is assigned to evict every alien from District 9 and move them to an exclusive zone. Wikus van der Merwe, a worker in charge of the operation, is sent into the dangerous District 9 to evict them. During this mission however, he is afflicted by a strange fluid and things change from bad to worse.

In the first half hour, the movie is filmed in the faux-documentary style used in movies like ‘Cloverfield’ mixed with news footage and interviews. This style is unique for a sci-fi feature and adds authenticity to the facts provided as they come off believable. The first half hour basically sets up the mythology and backstory for the movie in an engaging fashion. The plot here is brilliantly original and succeeds in capturing our imaginations. In this first hour, we follow Wikus through his difficult mission of interacting with an alien species. It leads to darkly comic sequences and some very effective scenes as well as biting social commentary. The African race, that was once itself the victim of racism throughout the world, now are the offenders as they riot and protest against the introduction of a new species into their land. How many sci-fi movies have you seen that tackle issues like racism, the current situation in South Africa, government conspiracies and the weapon industry? The film scores high points for its daring vision.

It’s in the second half that the film switches gears from a documentary style narrative to an actual thriller. But fear not, the second hour is equally brilliant, if not even more. As Wikus is affected by a strange fluid found in one of the alien’s houses, changes begin to happen. From here on out, the story changes to a ‘man on the run’ subgenre and does so with perfect execution. It is in half of the movie that people looking for a special-effect driven action spectacle will be immensely satisfied. As the story moves on and the character of Wikus is suddenly much more important, the movie continues to tackle social themes without preaching or sacrificing actual thrills. The film concludes with a very emotional and action-packed finale that is a treat to the eyes. Some people, however, may find the third act to be too loud compared to the rest of the film. But it’s great nonetheless.

In the acting department, the movie features no known actors and that works to its advantages. Other than adding realism to the situation, the actors themselves to an excellent job in portraying their characters. Special mention goes out to Sharlto Copley, an unknown actor who plays the lead with surprising skill and believability and makes the audience empathize with his situation. All the other actors do their job well, though none of the other actors are featured in the film as long as the lead is.

The special effects of the film, even though produced at a small budget, are brilliant. The aliens are instantly believable and have a very human-like quality to their design, especially as the movie closes. The action scenes are brilliantly shot, and in this department I enjoyed the movie much more than I enjoyed the bloated “Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen” as here, there was a strong motive and narrative driving the action instead of just bland spectacle.

Overall, District 9 will be hailed as a new sci-fi masterpiece in the coming years for its daring originality and execution of ideas that people may have seen before. Everybody is recommended to not miss this movie in the theatres. It is definitely the best movie that I have seen all year.

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