District 9
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley and Jason Cope
showing nightly at the Loma Theater

As a freshman effort, Neill Blomkamp's first feature film shows a lot of promise. My introduction to Blomkamp was his short Alive in Joburg. I loved it: in 5 minutes he was able to create a very compelling story that left me wanting more. Once I heard he was expanding the short into a full length movie (as District 9), I got very excited. Being a South African, his short film about refugee extra terrestrials forced into fenced-in camps was heavily infused with apartheid's race classing, and with its mockumentary style, it made for a fascinating, edgy story. I went in to District 9 hoping for that same feeling of racial separatism (which Blomkamp delivers) and some level of compassion for the aliens (called "prawns") and their plight (this he didn't deliver so much).

As with the short, the film begins in mockumentary style in earnest. We are introduced to mid-level bureaucrat Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), with mock film crew in tow as Wikus is given the task of organizing the move of the aliens from District 9 (in Johannesburg) to the new state of the art refugee camp District 10 (sequel alert!). As the movie progresses, Blomkamp is able to seamlessly shed the mockumentary style, treading into standard film storytelling mode. Copley tries his hardest to make his character accessible, but I feel like Blomkamp failed to make his character someone the viewer should care about. I was also let down by the fact that Blomkamp abandoned what could have been a very thoughtful film about humanity's cruelty when it comes to incorporating, or at least coexisting with those in the minority and physically different (told in a unique science fiction framework). In lieu of these things, I was treated to a very exciting summer blockbuster chase movie. He covered the standard checklist for summer blockbuster chase movies: the special effects were very good, the chases were exciting, the violence was graphic and gritty, the humans were for the most part relentless and evil, and the sequel was conveniently framed. His protrayal of the different racial classes followed what I would expect from a South African: the white people were rich, running the government, and lived in fenced in communities; the black people were largely associated with Nigerians (as the black marketeers, profiting off of both sides of the human/prawn dynamic). That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I really did. The prawn research lab was probably some of the most disturbing film footage I've seen in a movie theater since Cuaron's Children of Men, the humor is dark but very smart, and I was constantly asking myself "how are they getting out of this?"

I went in to District 9 hoping for a gritty and thoughtful narrative on the inhumanity of humans when it comes to coexisting with those that look different, that's not what I got. While the former is delivered in spades, the latter is traded in for a movie in which the main character goes from government administrator to wanted "criminal" all in an extended chase. I still enjoyed it for what it was: the violence was graphic and the scenes were adequately exciting. This movie has a strong potential as a date movie for those looking for a bit of excitement in their date, and works best as a movie watched with a group of your favorite science fiction geek friends.

Editor's note: haven't seen it, but probably will. Having said that, I'm not sure why graphic violence is a plus; I'd consider it a minus myself.