District 9

by **Darkwing** 2009-08-21, 22:03

District 9

General Overview
Overall a really excellent science fiction that has for once done some exploring into the genre rather than just re-hashing things that have already been done. This movie is not for the weak hearted, it is very realistic and quite intense. Things are essentially as they seem and it is a mature movie as there is a fair bit of people blowing up and blood splatter on camera lenses and the whatnot. Also their is a a fair bit of use of crude language, but the redeeming point is how intensely strong the story is. It explores the human condition and for once, does not having you rooting for the humans as the good guys. The movie is set up like a documentary, with interviews and things like that throughout the movie. Though there are a fair bit of movies with this style, it is pulled off very well.

Acting:
The acting is very good in this film. It is all very natural and human and is exactly how it would be should this scenario actually occur. The dialogue is very well done, with all jinds of natural stutters and um’s and ah’s. It is difficult beyond that to critiqu the acting as it’s not like a regular movie. The important fact is it seems real, including the CG aliens’ acting. Though they are CGI, I will say that their “acting” is very interesting. It’s almost as if our human essence was put onto these non english speaking aliens and their body language is very realistic. A lot is said through the body language in this film and not just through the dialogue.

Cinematography
This film is as I said before set up like a documentary, but still has the feel of a movie and not just some Michael Moore thing. The shots are very good because it looks as if someone was actually there with a camera, yet still feels professional, and by that I mean it’s not sloppy. The camera is all free hand, but it doesn’t jerk around so much that you would feel sick. Everything is set up beautifully though and a lot of the shots had me almost drooling at the level of skill and technique. It is very impressive for Blomkamp’s first feature film.

The CGI in this film is seamless. Unlike most CG creations, I really had myself believing that their were aliens living in District 9. Everything just looked real, believable.

Story:
This movie has a very strong core despite the gore and swearing. A lot of times when a movie has gore and swearing, if you were to strip it of that, there would be nothing left. This however is intense, it truly delves into what we are as humans, and strips away all those ignorance's that we build up about the way we are, that we’re a kind, loving good hearted species. This gets to our core, and if you just go in to sit down and just enjoy a movie DO NOT SEE THIS!!!! However, if you go in, ready for an extremely strong story, ready to think a little, then this movie will really strike you. It is gritty, intense and most of all real.

General Consensus
Though not normally my style of movie I quite like it. I think it is a true science fiction piece as it isn’t an action movie and it isn’t Star Trek or any other re-hashed, re-done or remade movie with the genre Sci-Fi plastered over this. It is fresh and a somewhat different take on the aliens come to earth story. I was quite relieved to finally see some “new” science-fiction and I applaud the team that worked on it and congratulate them on a job well done. I give it a 8.5/10 as I prefer their to be less swearing and gore, but was all right with it in this movie.