District 9Considering all the rave reviews, it was hard not to have high expectations about this film. Regardless of reviews (short of them being so bad that the film was considered gawd awful), I knew we would go see it since we wanted to support Peter Jackson, even if he didn't direct it himself. If he believed in someone, why shouldn't we, considering Jackson hasn't lost my trust... yet. And I hope he never does. But that's neither here nor there.
Well, I really enjoyed this movie. It built up so much drama and tension and managed to infuse it with an everyday-life sense of humor and some great action sequences. Oh, and boy, does stuff get blowed up good! Heh, heh.
What I found impressive was the movie's opening which set the tone immediately. We cut from the beginning which follows Wikas (vick-iss) entering District 9 along with a documentary team. Interspersed with this are clips from various newscasts that have reported on District 9's events and interviews with those who are involved and aware of the happenings in the area.
**some SPOILERS to follow**
The general story is that an alien ship has entered Earth's atmosphere and ended up hovering over Johannesburg, South Africa. After three years of no activity from the ship, they (I assume the UN, but I can't recall) decide to open the ship and send crews to break in. The ship's inhabitants are alien creatures that resemble a kind of insect. They are freed and then immigrated to an area of land in Johannesburg.
What makes this movie so realistic is the way the inhabitants of Johannesburg begin to treat the aliens not as space creatures but as resented illegal immigrants. They are even dubbed by a derogatory name of "prauns" (sic).
It's hard to watch how people can behave towards those who are less informed, have less resources, and are not the majority. The "prauns" are treated like lesser beings and taken advantage of and are used for secret scientific experiments (ala the Nazis) for the advancement of weapons technology.
And within all this drama, the action sequences can make you whoop and holler in excitement and satisfaction (just like the douchebag sitting next to us who thought he could comment at every little movement on screen). You can at once laugh at, sympathize with, and come to hate Wikas throughout his ordeal. In short, he's a character that is like a real human being with all the good and all the faults one person can possess.
The ending may seem a bit unsatisfactory and it leaves a lot of questions, but isn't that life?
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