Movie Review: District 9
Aug. 14th, 2009 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theoldwolfJust got back from seeing "District 9", and I can't stop thinking about it.
From the trailers, I thought the show could go one of two ways:
1) Evil aliens trying to deceive humanity, or
2) Innocuous aliens just trying to get home.
As it turns out, both scenarios were wrong.
First, it's a bloody movie. But that's OK, it makes for a good ride. Lots of bad guys meet various and sundry splashy, squishy, or culinary endings, which is always good in my book.
Second, the first half-hour annoyed me because it seemed irrelevant, and the attitude of the main character was rubbing me the wrong way. As the show went on, I saw what they filmmakers were trying to do, and it all made sense. So be patient, the best is yet to come.
Third, the message was certainly undisguised and perhaps a little heavy-handed, but that's OK too. It's a message that bears repeating.
Fourth, it's kind of depressing, but then again, so is real life if you look at the global human condition. The movie pulled no social punches, so it gets good marks in that area.
Fifth, the effects were well-done. Except for one, which seemed like "Whoa, they sure cut the budget for that scene." Well, you'll probably recognize it when you see it. The rest of them made up for it.
Lastly, I like the ending. It's neither tidy nor definitive, but it leaves the door open for a possible sequel, or not. It's not an obvious "Oh by Mogg's tufted tail, we can milk another film or two out of this franchise" - they could do another one which might work, but if they don't, the story stands on its own and the viewer can fill in all sorts of scenarios for themselves.
If you want more, I'm putting some spoilers behind the cut.
Spoilers
The movie is set in South Africa. That works on two different levels: one, it gives a perfect setting for an analogy to the atrocities of apartheid, and two, even though it's modern South Africa that represents at least a politically unified landscape, it provides a realistic background for the hideous conditions the aliens are allowed to live in. I've never been to the townships, either before or after, but I've been to the slums of Kinshasa, Cairo, Tijuana and Tirana, and yes, people do live like that.
There's a tremendous book out there by Mike Resnick called Purgatory which is a very un-veiled (in fact, it's blatantly out in the open) history of Rhodesia nestled within a fascinating science fiction story. While obvious comparisons come to mind, "District 9" is less about the oppressive nature of one government over a people than it is about the nature of humans in general to fall into the "Us vs. Them" mentality. There's evil aplenty in this show, some coming from the quasi-government institute outside of the alien ghetto, some from the dregs of society - represented in this case by Nigerian arms dealers and swindlers - who prey upon the aliens for profit, and some from the central character himself, whose very painful physical and emotional journey left me wrung out like a dishrag put through a laundry mangle.
The thing that makes the movie work for me is that that Wikus Van De Merwe is not your typical protagonist. To be blunt, he starts the movie as an abominable racist - or speciesist if you will - the product of a society that for generations taught their children that different is not only less-than, but that it's acceptable to treat those who are different with horrendous brutality without losing a minute's sleep. The man appears to have no conscience, which makes his redemption in the end of the show all the more poignant, as he fights so hard against the realities that are overwhelming him.
As I mentioned, the ending is open. Maybe the aliens will come back to rescue their people and cure Wikus, and maybe they won't. Either way, this movie points out how far we have still to go as a race - meaning "humans" - before we have a world that works for everyone, with no one left out.
Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 9 stars
From the trailers, I thought the show could go one of two ways:
1) Evil aliens trying to deceive humanity, or
2) Innocuous aliens just trying to get home.
As it turns out, both scenarios were wrong.
First, it's a bloody movie. But that's OK, it makes for a good ride. Lots of bad guys meet various and sundry splashy, squishy, or culinary endings, which is always good in my book.
Second, the first half-hour annoyed me because it seemed irrelevant, and the attitude of the main character was rubbing me the wrong way. As the show went on, I saw what they filmmakers were trying to do, and it all made sense. So be patient, the best is yet to come.
Third, the message was certainly undisguised and perhaps a little heavy-handed, but that's OK too. It's a message that bears repeating.
Fourth, it's kind of depressing, but then again, so is real life if you look at the global human condition. The movie pulled no social punches, so it gets good marks in that area.
Fifth, the effects were well-done. Except for one, which seemed like "Whoa, they sure cut the budget for that scene." Well, you'll probably recognize it when you see it. The rest of them made up for it.
Lastly, I like the ending. It's neither tidy nor definitive, but it leaves the door open for a possible sequel, or not. It's not an obvious "Oh by Mogg's tufted tail, we can milk another film or two out of this franchise" - they could do another one which might work, but if they don't, the story stands on its own and the viewer can fill in all sorts of scenarios for themselves.
If you want more, I'm putting some spoilers behind the cut.
Spoilers
The movie is set in South Africa. That works on two different levels: one, it gives a perfect setting for an analogy to the atrocities of apartheid, and two, even though it's modern South Africa that represents at least a politically unified landscape, it provides a realistic background for the hideous conditions the aliens are allowed to live in. I've never been to the townships, either before or after, but I've been to the slums of Kinshasa, Cairo, Tijuana and Tirana, and yes, people do live like that.
There's a tremendous book out there by Mike Resnick called Purgatory which is a very un-veiled (in fact, it's blatantly out in the open) history of Rhodesia nestled within a fascinating science fiction story. While obvious comparisons come to mind, "District 9" is less about the oppressive nature of one government over a people than it is about the nature of humans in general to fall into the "Us vs. Them" mentality. There's evil aplenty in this show, some coming from the quasi-government institute outside of the alien ghetto, some from the dregs of society - represented in this case by Nigerian arms dealers and swindlers - who prey upon the aliens for profit, and some from the central character himself, whose very painful physical and emotional journey left me wrung out like a dishrag put through a laundry mangle.
The thing that makes the movie work for me is that that Wikus Van De Merwe is not your typical protagonist. To be blunt, he starts the movie as an abominable racist - or speciesist if you will - the product of a society that for generations taught their children that different is not only less-than, but that it's acceptable to treat those who are different with horrendous brutality without losing a minute's sleep. The man appears to have no conscience, which makes his redemption in the end of the show all the more poignant, as he fights so hard against the realities that are overwhelming him.
As I mentioned, the ending is open. Maybe the aliens will come back to rescue their people and cure Wikus, and maybe they won't. Either way, this movie points out how far we have still to go as a race - meaning "humans" - before we have a world that works for everyone, with no one left out.
Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 9 stars
