I just watced District 9 and came away very impressed by what I saw. Neil Blomkamp’s film is the purest for of science fiction. It is a brilliant, cutting critique of the human condition with fantastic pacing and nice effects as well. The story would do Philip K. Dick proud. The movie reminded me a little of what M. Night Shyalaman tries to do – it presents us with a fantastic sci-fi premise and slips in an unexpected hardcore message for the audience to consume as well.

 

Man people will go to see District 9 expecting what has become typical sci-fi. By typical I mean mindless, purile, fun without a thought to the story and some cut-and-paste morality as token homage to what sci-fi used to be. This is Blomkamp’s big screen directorial debut and he has brought an incredible arsenal of talent to bear for his 29 years. The style is documentary, handheld cam with amazing seamless special effects. Really impressive film. Blomkamp also wrote the script and if the story is anything to go by this guy is going to be one heck of a major talent.

 

It should also be mentioned that the lead actor in the film, Sharlto Copley, was amazing. He really was very impressive and I would ot be surprised to see an Academy Award nomination for him. The most remarkable thing about Copley is that this is really his first major acting experience. In fact his bios don’t mention anything aside from a small role as a drill sergeant in a short film. Mostly his career has been focused on producing and directing small films and videos.

 

I highly recommend the film. It needs to be seen many times to unpack its true depth. Blomkamp’s analysis of the human condition is clearly heavily impacted by his experience growing up in apartheid-era South Africa. There are many themes explored including racism, xenophobia, government abuse, fear, poverty and its impact on a culture, etc. I was very pleased with how in one scene the movie deals with eugenics. In the scence our main character of Wikus Van De Merwe, a manager for a non-governmental security agency assigned to relocate the alien inhabitants of District 9. While leading a company film crew through the slums of District 9 they find an alien hatchery where eggs are being cared for till birth. Wikus is very excited by the find and demonstrates how to abort the eggs before they can hatch. Eventually they simply use a flame thrower setting the entire shack ablaze as the most "economical" way to abort the children and Wikus gleefully describes the popping of the eggs. It was a scene clearly designed to show another unfortunate feature of our culture – the temptation to deal with unwanted people in our world by simply eradicating them – or aborting their unborn children – to use Wikus’s words.

 

The film is loaded with f-bombs but they are used in the context of the story and due to the thick South African accent they are barely recognizable. If you see the film I would love to know what you think.