Neill Bloomkamp (Director)
I first saw District 9 in my hometown based on a recommendation from Filmspotting. Both hosts enjoyed the film, but neither liked it. They then had herds of fans coming to the films defense and calling it the best sci-fi film in years. This peaked my interest and I attended a screening. I remember being impressed upon my viewing.
District 9 is about a pencil pushing geek that gets put in charge of a mission to deliver evacuation notices to a bread of aliens that have been "infesting" Johannesburg, South Africa for years. He runs into some complications along the way and the story progresses from here. The first thing I remember about this film is how funny the first act is. I love the character Copley plays. He is set up to fail by his father-in-law. The script is tight as a knot and delivered with grace and timing. He even has a calculator attached to his bullet proof vest.
Then in the 2nd act things start to get real. This is a relativity low budget sci-fi film, but you would never be able to tell by simply looking at it. The effects are amazing, and I am not one to go on about effects. And it is not just the big action scenes or the aliens either. You can tell loving care went into every frame of this film. There a shots of news reports. If I didn't know I was watching a movie and I happened to walk into a room when these clips were playing I swear that I would think earth had been invaded.
The third act is where most critics of the film thinks it starts to fall apart. Up until now the director has been cultivating a heartfelt, funny movie that had something to say about humanity. It's true that in the third act it gets a little too much "Aliens" and not enough "Alien". But I don't fault the film for that. It stays true to it's self and the directors vision. No wonder Bloomkamp's name is being mentioned for every sci-fi job that comes up these days.
Upon my second viewing I didn't feel the connection between the main character and his wife as much as I did in the theater. I also felt the movie didn't pay off on a second viewing as much as I thought it might. Perhaps it was because I was now watching it on the small screen? Maybe I have seen some other effect driven films that topped it? Maybe the "newness" wore off? I don't know. All I do know is that even with a bit of a diminishing return this is still a very good movie. I give District 9 ★★★★. Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.
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