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District 9
Starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Robert Hobbs
Directed By Neil Blomkamp
Produced By Peter Jackson
(Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Let’s face it folks; it’s not always pretty when the often tumultuous realm best known as the Sci-Fi genre, a major budget and the Silver Screen collide. The results, although quite obvious well-intended and frequently painstakingly assembled, can (and, more often than not, will) leave many a fan far less than satisfied. Even with the unavoidable presence of full-fledged classics such as Alien (1979) and The Matrix (1999), at the end of the day, most viewers--particularly those who’ve already worn out their battered VHS copy of Blade Runner (1982)--are, well, less than impressed. Thus, you can only imagine my excitement when acclaimed South African director Neil Blomkamp (2006’s Alive In Joburg) and corporate behemoth Sony Pictures unleashed Blomkamp’s highly-publicized feature length debut District 9 (2009) upon a largely unsuspecting commonalty.
Taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa twenty years after an alien spaceship becomes stranded above the city, the viewer is immediately plunged headlong into a squalid government camp--i.e. District 9--in which the group of one million unhealthy and leaderless aliens discovered aboard the ship is confined following a not-entirely-unfounded public outcry. Tasked with relocating the camp’s inhabitants (to District 10, a new camp located outside of Johannesburg), Multinational United (MNU) agent Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) leads the eviction process, aborting a nest of alien eggs in the process. Unfortunately, after some nearby aliens are discovered distilling a mysterious liquid into a small canister, one of the aliens (Christopher Johnson) resists, resulting in Van De Merwe becoming infected after the noxious liquid is accidentally sprayed upon him.
With the film’s primary scope wisely focusing on Van De Merwe’s frighteningly expedited, infection-fueled descent into insanity (and, more importantly, his increasingly co-dependent relationship with the hesitantly compassionate Christopher), the remainder of Blomkamp’s incredibly gritty opus drives home each key focal point with a near-lethal accuracy. Rocketing wildly towards its climactic, bittersweet conclusion, the Terri Tatchell (2006’s short Adicolor Yellow) co-penned script leaves the proverbial average viewer second guessing what only moments before seemed both plausible and logical. Intertwined with refreshingly unique underlying messages of benevolence and hope that feverishly resonates between Van De Merwe and Christopher without sounding either forced or hypocritical, the film glibly offers insightful social commentary without overreaching.
Fortified throughout by a veritable bevy of deleted scenes, Director’s commentary and the delightfully insightful The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker’s Log three-part documentary, much of the audiovisual roller coaster that is so often the mighty District 9 ultimately separates itself from its few legitimate contemporaries by wholeheartedly addressing ‘…real life…’ issues such as racism and xenophobia (particularly as they pertain to Apartheid and Blikkiesdorp). The end result(s)? While most definitely not for the faint of heart or weak of constitution, the virtually unknown Copley eagerly delivers what can only be described as a shrewd, Oscar-caliber performance. Deftly conveying the unabashed angst, fury and rage that invariably courses through Van De Merwe’s increasingly humanoid veins, the South African-born actor proves he is indeed worthy of the hype.
An absolute must-have for any die-hard Sci-Fi enthusiast (or, for that matter, anyone with a genuine and sincere interest in the Action-Adventure genre), the majority--if not all--of the occasionally over-the-top wares contained herein are jam-packed with a startling wealth of carefully orchestrated, quasi-gratuitous violence and tightly-wound, socially and politically-charged drama. Undoubtedly destined to thoroughly satisfy even the most discriminating of aggregators, the visionaristicBlomkamp seems destined for an extraordinarily bright future. As a result, if you’ve once again found yourself in search of a truly high octane home theater experience that boldly deviates from the painfully mindless din and clatter that is so often mainstream cinema, then this, my friends, might just be the thought-provoking cure for whatever ails you. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
Select Neil Blomkamp Filmography
District 9 (2009)
Tempbot (2006)
Alive In Joburg (2005)
Tetra Vaal (2004)