District 9 - Review

This movie is brutal, visceral, and pure genius. Not since I saw Batman: The Dark Knight have I felt a movie blended action, drama and compelling story so perfectly and to be honest I felt, as a movie, it was better. District 9 speaks to humanity as a whole. It shows our selfishness and brutality. It exposes our inability to tolerate differences, our greed, and our lack of respect for even our own species. Humanities barbaric nature and greed take center stage. Even when one of our own is in need of help, he ends up exploited by his own family for greed. The underlying story of love and understanding though can be easily missed amongst the brutality of the rest of the film, but it's there in the relationship of Wikus and Tania and the prawn Christopher and his son. Not until the end does Wikus' fight for self preservation give way to his understanding of what is more important, the subjugation of an entire race or himself. Through the whole movie we have humanities selfishness shoved in our face but the last 30 min shows that even that basic instinct can be overcome to help those who truly need it.

Neill Blomkamp is an amazing director. He blended action, storytelling, visuals, camera work and sound perfectly. Now the POV camera stuff was rough for me, I tend to get motion sickness, but it was important for the film. It helps the story, it gives you perspective on whats happening. The transitions from one camera style to another work very well and roll well into the action sequences. The scoring is perfect for this movie, it helps us get a sense of the brutality appearing on screen or the solemnness of the moment with its silence. The volume is actually matched appropriately too. Never did I feel like the music or sound effect drowned each other out, I always knew the music was there but didn't feel like it intruded on the scene taking place.

This movie is simply amazing. If you can watch, understand and learn from it you'll walk away a little more insightful and hopefully a little more tolerant of others. Try not to let its message overpower you and cause you to dislike the film just because you may have a difference of opinion, but like any debate try to see its point of view.

District 9 is an ingenious film, with fantastic direction and believable acting. While some scenes are hard to watch and some camera work makes you feel like you're about to blow chunks it helps drive the point of the movie home, you just gotta be open to the ideas it presents.

10/10