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“A horror film’s job is to scare you, is to get your pulse going, is to make you scream and yell. It’s to make you be afraid. That’s its main purpose, and creeping you out. And that can be an enjoyable experience.” --- John Carpenter ::::::::::::: MY CRITERIA FOR DISCUSSION ENCOMPASSES THE HORROR GENRE AND BEYOND, SO I USE THE TERM "NIGHTMARE MOVIES". SPOILERS CAN OCCUR WITH OR WITHOUT WARNING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

District 9

August 6th 2009 01:37
District 9 movie poster
In two words? Bloody awesome. In another three? Instant cult classic. Yup, this debut feature kicks some serious butt. I’ve not been as exhilarated as I was coming out of this movie for a long time. I would argue it’s the best sf movie in years. WALL-E was amazing, and Primer was incredibly impressive, but they operate in such different ways, District 9 (2009) ticks pretty much all my darker science fiction boxes; it’s a hardcore actioner for the sf movie geeks.

Produced by Peter Jackson, directed by Neill Blomkamp, and co-written between Blomkamp and Terri Tatchel, District 9 eats all the competition for breakfast and spits out the bones. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen cost $US200 million, and is a piece of crap (I haven’t even seen it, I don’t want to, and I don’t need to). District 9 cost roughly $NZ30m and looks like it cost $100m. It’s a tour-de-force of “guerrilla filmmaking”; shooting most of the movie like a kind of mockumentary, using unknown actors in a South African shanty-town, and proving once again how spectacular Peter Jackson is at making movies at a fraction of the cost of what Hollywood would spend.
District 9 Sharlto Copley
Sharlto Copley as Wikus
I only heard about this movie a couple of weeks ago. I’m so glad I made the decision to resist watching any of the trailers. I wanted to go into the screening as “cold” as possible (in fact I'm now thinking I should avoid trailers altogether). All I knew of District 9 was Jackson had produced, a protégé was directing, and that the premise was chaos in a refugee camp for aliens in Johannesburg. Publicity requested to media not to divulge any spoilers in our reviews. I’ll do my best.
District 9
The alien mothership hangs over Johannesburg
The logline is thus: An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly find a kindred spirit in a government agent that is exposed to their biotechnology. District 9 is the name given to the camp where the insectoid aliens are housed. It’s squalid conditions, not too dissimilar to real-life Soweto (and much has been made already of the movie as metaphor). The massive derelict alien mothership hovers above the city and has done for nearly thirty years, but now the South African government has had enough and wants District 9 moved out of the city as the aliens have become a serious social problem.
District 9 alien
An alien refugee AKA prawn
A private company, MNU (Multi-National United) initiates a relocation program, but they have a secret agenda; they are desperate to take full advantage of the incredibly powerful alien biotechnological weaponry, which can only be operated by alien hands. There is increasing tension between the “prawns” (the derogatory human term for the aliens, as they have a crustacean appearance) and the MNU and military facilitating the relocation. Wikus Van Der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is an MNU field operative, and it is his valiant story that is the crux of the movie.

District 9 sign
Director Blomkamp is an ex-pat South African based in Canada and comes from a background in visual effects and cutting-edge commercials. He made one of the nifty Citroen ads, “Alive with Technology”, where the car has transformed into a dancing robot. More significantly Blomkamp was going to direct Peter Jackson’s hugely anticipated live action feature based on the futuristic combat video game Halo, but funding fell through (?!). Jackson saw a short, “Alive in Joburg” Blomkamp had made and green-lit the project to expand it into a feature. The result is District 9.

The amazing technical savvy both Blomkamp and Jackson possess has ensured District 9 looks extraordinary. They’ve taken CGI to a photo-realism level. Michael Bay’s Transformers paved the way, but that movie was simply too slick and cheesy to make a real impact with the techno boffin audiences. Blomkamp adds a cinema verite style, utilising surveillance cameras, archival source material and news-reel footage to heighten the sense of realism. The production design is stunning, from the overwhelming mothership to the kick-ass bio-suit; the alien design concepts are very cool.
District 9 Sharlto Copley
Wikus in field operative mode
District 9 is raw and unbridled, and its contrivances work brilliantly. It’s violent and gory and full of expletives, has moments of nicely-tuned black comedy, and sports a subtext of social commentary that supposedly was unintentional, but can’t be ignored, but what works so well is the unexpected directions the narrative takes during the second half. With Sharlto Coplet’s compelling central performance, and the movie’s sf concepts, it makes for a sensational cinematic experience.
District 9 Sharlto Copley
Wikus in rogue mercenary mode
I’m championing District 9 as the best movie of the year so far. Budgetary costs aside, Neill Blomkamp has raised the bar very high, so let’s see what cinematic tricks you can pull out of your uber-expensive hat Mr. James Cameron.

To watch the trailer click here (embedding has been denied)

For the gameheads here's Blompkamp’s excellent Halo 3 short made for funding exhibition, which captures a very similar atmosphere to District 9:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews
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14 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Michaelie

August 6th 2009 06:51


Flick Wit
Hey Bryn,

Peter Jackson does a lot for hairy, unkept men everywhere.

Laughed at this:

the aliens have become a serious social problem

Looks goooood. Seems strange whenever I see blue skies and alien motherships.

Michaelie

Comment by Bryn

August 6th 2009 07:29


Horrorphile
Hey there Michaelie,
haven't seen your laughing gear around here for awhile.
Well, Peter's looking very different from the fat, unkempt man who made Lord of the Kings, he's lot a lot of weight, got laser treatment on his eyes, and I think he might have even shaved his beard off.
Yes, this movie is very very good.

Comment by stu-kicks

August 6th 2009 12:25


stu kicks
horrophile my frend this is a bit of a racist review it is a movie in africa yet i see no pictures of real africans in ur blog. maybe you should fix that up for the brothers yo?

i hav a new review up of the PUBLIC ENEMIES movie i think you should check it out it mite save you the hassle of seein the movie for urself.

peace from stu

Comment by JohnDoe

August 6th 2009 15:08


Film & TV on DVD
Great write up Bryn,

As if I needed more reasons to make District 9 my most anticipated film of the year, now your review has me counting the seconds till August 14th when it opens here.

Can't wait!!


Comment by Bryn

August 6th 2009 23:21


Horrorphile
stu ... look closely, i think i see a brother in one of the pics! i've seen public enemies and i glanced at your review, only because i'm a glutton for punishment. nothing surprising there.

jd, hope i haven't over-hyped it

Comment by Amy Wang

August 7th 2009 12:22


Films, Films And More FIlms
TOTALLY JUST WON 2 FREE TIX TO SEE IT MONDAY NIGHT AT GEORGE ST. I'm psyched out of my mind!! Most anticipated film after Avatar of course

Comment by Christopher Waldeck

August 10th 2009 03:34


Dunk Films
Can you believe that the studio was too simple minded to give Jackson a push with Halo when he requested a 60 million dollar budget for it while this movie costs less and looks better than Transformers 2, and is probably better than most science fiction films.

My only question is that if it's Jackson's studio why can't he choose what movies he wants to make. If Lord of the Rings why such a hit why wouldn't they take a chance on halo. Oh well this weekend the studio executives will realize what morons they were.

Just as moronic as whoever green lit Bandslam for the same release date as District 9.

Comment by Bryn

August 10th 2009 03:50


Horrorphile
Christopher, you'd think after LOTR Jackson would have the same kind of kudos as Speilberg, but it seems not quite.

Comment by Drinksmith

August 12th 2009 12:46
Great review - bloody awesome and cult classic agreed, only disagree with the affect of watching the previews as I did. They do not spoil it at all for what a game changing movie this is. I would suggest not reading your above review because you nailed it. Watched a sneak preview in Miami with a Q&A with the director and lead actor, Sharlto last night. Wow, probably the best original sci-fi movie since the Matrix for me.

Comment by Bryn

August 13th 2009 01:15


Horrorphile
Drinksmith, cheers. Yeah, as it turns out after watching the trailers, after watching the movie, they don't give that much away. Still I enjoyed going into the movie having not seen anything from it apart from the poster. I'd love to have been at the Q&A!!! I'm envious!

Comment by Natalina

August 16th 2009 00:29


My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog
Hey Bryn, just came home from seeing this. I really can't describe how much I loved this movie. Unbelievable. Amazing... Hmmmm. I'll have to wait until the rush wears off and try to be a little more articulate. Breathtaking.

Comment by Bryn

August 17th 2009 01:19


Horrorphile
Great to hear! The movie actually gets better and better, such a rarity!

Comment by JohnDoe

August 26th 2009 22:35


Film & TV on DVD
Hey man,

Finally got my review for this bad boy up...naturally i enjoyed its carnage.

Comment by Bryn

August 27th 2009 00:32


Horrorphile
I'd best go check your baby out then!

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