Usually the dog days of summer mean a significant drop in the quality of new films hitting theaters. This summer, however, the exact opposite has been true. Some of the season’s best film’s have come out in recent weeks and with Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi-scalping opus “Inglourious Basterds” due out on Friday, this trend seems very likely to continue.
But, at least for now, it’s the Peter Jackson- produced sci-fi masterpiece, “District 9,” that holds the title of “summer’s best movie.”
Heck, it’s the best science fiction movie in recent memory.
Not too shabby for a film with no big names whatsoever, outside of Jackson.
It stars rookie leading man Sharlto Copley and was directed and co-written by fellow rookie Neill Blomkamp, who until now was best known for being the guy who was SUPPOSED to direct “Halo,” until that project mercifully fell apart.
“District 9” is a testament to the fact that, despite a tidal wave of remakes and sequels, Hollywood still has some original ideas. Filmmakers just need to be given the opportunity to share them with the world.
It’s no coincidence that “District 9” is set in South Africa, which also happens to be the birth place of both Copley and Blomkamp.
The film is a not-so-thinly-veiled allegory for apartheid, with aliens filling the role of segregated and discriminated against minority. Blacks and whites are united against the E.T.’s derogatorily called “prawns” because of their resemblance to huge shrimp.
It seems that their ship ran into some trouble while it was cruising around the cosmos, causing it to settle directly over the South African city of Johannesburg. Then for a while nothing happens. Tired of waiting, humans force their way onto the ship, only to discover a million starving aliens on board.
Initially, humanity welcomes them with open arms, providing aid, care and even setting up a special place in Johannesburg— known as “District 9”— just for them.
Problems arise when crime begins to run rampant in the impoverished District 9, thanks largely to a human element that seeks to exploit the aliens.
The citizens around District 9 quickly tire of the violence and demand that the aliens be relocated elsewhere. A shady, possibly Halliburton-inspired private security firm called MNU is hired to handle the relocation.
Wikus van de Merwe (Copley), an energetic and ambitious young MNU operative, is charged with the unenviable task of evicting them and transporting the prawn to a newly created shanty-town known as “District 10,” though the higher-ups in MNU have their own plans.
Blomkamp uses every possible technique to adapt his short film “Alive in Jo’berg” into a full length feature.
In addition to standard narrative scenes, parts of “District 9” are shot documentary-style while other parts are filmed using security cameras. Often characters speak directly to the camera in “History Channel”-esque interviews.
Blomkamp, who balances each narrative element masterfully, is clearly a rising star in tinsel town.
The script that he co-wrote with Terri Tatchell is a complex, multi-layered look at discrimination, violence and, of course, big business corruption.
Those weighty themes aside, “District 9” doesn’t skimp on the action/ adventure side of things.
It is equal parts moving, character-driven drama and summer popcorn flick, a ratio not seen since last summer’s “The Dark Knight.”
Like Blomkamp, Copley handles everything asked of him with a level of cool well beyond his experience. Also like Blomkamp, watch for big things from him in the very near future.
A film like this could easily be sunk by shoddy special effects, but everything in “District 9” looks amazing. The creatures, spacecraft and futuristic weaponry — no matter how unbelievable—somehow all manage to fit right in with the film’s gritty and realistic tone.
Even though the reported budget was a comparatively slim $30 million, on the screen it looks like so much more, providing further proof that ample creativity trumps a lack of funds any day.
“District 9” is truly a cinematic marvel and it accomplishes something that few films before it have been able to— it shows that the scariest monsters AREN’T necessarily the ones with the claws and scales but sometimes they are the ones who look the most familiar.
Jackson and Blomkamp have raised the science fiction bar to a whole new level.
Grade: 5/5