District 9Rated R
118 Minutes
Nicole’s Rating: A-
An extraterrestrial race has gotten stranded in Johannesburg, South Africa. Due to lack of resources they cannot leave. It’s been 28 years and they are still here, but put into a small area to take refuge. The area set aside for the “Prawns” (the alien race named because they look like prawns) has become over populated and slum ridden. The South Africans want them out so the Prawns are being evicted and forced to more to area with smaller living areas and looks more like concentration camp. Wikus Van De Merwe is one of these agents that has to go out, have the aliens sign their eviction notice and give feedback on any that are storing weapons, technology or seem hostile. During the raid Wikus becomes contaminated from a fluid. Because of what happened to him afterwards, he finds himself in conflict with which side he should fight for…Alien or Human?
Characters
Wikus Van De Merwe played by Sharlto Copley
This character was very complex, having to go through every emotion and reaction. Hard to believe that the actor has never played in a motion picture before this. Through the entire film you despise him, love him and feel sorry for him…even end up rooting for him. Sharlto is one actor to look forward to seeing in many movies in the future, at least I hope so.
Christopher Anderson
With the name Christopher Anderson, you wouldn’t expect it to be one of the Aliens. Who knew that a being so insect like could bring out emotions and expressions. You also come to know that Christopher is highly intelligent and have been working under ground for years to get back home. You’ll come to enjoy seeing his face on the screen.
Production
First off kudos to Weta Workshop and their great animatronics! The robotic aliens had great movements which included eye expression, torso breathing and believable mandible work.
As for the alien work in CGI and graphic work, for a production of $30 million dollars the graphics were as good as production with twice the budget. The graphics were at times over pixilated, but were hidden well with the biographical shooting style of the film
Shaky cam…again with shaky cam! Yes it annoys me but with this film it worked, it had a purpose. Because of the shooting style of the film it didn’t feel out of place. Plus it was so shaky, that it got distracting. I think there were only two times that I had a hard time picking out details of the scene. The use of the waist camera angle was a great way to get away from the shaky cam but keep it real to the biographical style of the film.
Makeup style was remarkable! Especially at the end where there’s a major transformation of Wikus. They were not overdone and very believable.
Hi-Lo
+ Baby Prawn
I dare you to come out of this movie without loving this little guy. He did a great supporting role for the adult aliens.
- Cell Phone Charge
At one point in the movie Wikus needs to make a call to his wife but is on the run, so he steals a phone from a person on the street. This phone keeps a charge for days even though he uses it a lot. I really want to know what phone he used.
+ Mechs
Robots controlled by biological entities. I so want one of these!
- Trailer…teasing a bit
The trailer that most people have seen has certain scenes that were not included in the final cut of the film. I understand that this happens but there was one part in the trailer I was so excited to see, but it was never shown. Boo!
I honestly can’t find much fault with this movie. It has a great storyline, a main character in conflict that does a 160, and it brings out emotions that you thought you couldn’t have an alien race. Yes, the story has a hidden and underline meaning of today’s society, but everyone could use a good message. I guess the one thing I can find fault with it, is that I got too emotionally involved with the story myself. I’m a person that honestly cannot take another life. Heck, I catch and release the spiders in my house and too see intelligent beings being sacrificed during the film, pulled at my heart strings a lot. I should mention the violence. Before going to this film I thought it was going to be a gore fest, but the violence was minimal to what I was expecting. Yes there was blood and vomit, but wasn’t near as graphic as some slasher flicks.
I truly enjoyed this show and I can’t wait to see the special features on the DVD. I think the way this movie was produced will be as good as the movie itself.
To see a video review of this go to my YouTube channel:
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