District 9 - An exercise in humanity toward the non-human
Written: Sep 12 '09 (Updated Sep 12 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Bang For The Buck |
 |
|
|
Pros: beautiful CG animation, superior acting, suspenseful plot
Cons: there had better be a sequel
The Bottom Line: A fabulously entertaining and suspenseful movie with controversial topics thrown in free.
|
|
|
| blueshadesguy's Full Review: District 9 |
Question:
Do you believe that in general people are good law abiding citizens? (good nature)
OR
Do you believe people only obey laws because they fear the consequences? (evil nature)
Introduction:
I went to see this movie after viewing a trailer that made me excited! Special effects seem to abound as did plain view shots of aliens that looked nothing like humans in a costume. It appeared to be a shooter style action packed movie with alien weaponry, combat and even a "mech-warrior / Goliath" type of robotic armored suit.
My movie experience was an almost empty theater in the evening only days after it's opening and thus my thoughts were "wow, is it really that bad?"
I chose to title my review with an emphasis on the exercise in humanity which is one of the many concepts that District 9 flawlessly demonstrates for its audience. I will also not spoil the movie and review with a plot summary that is readily available elsewhere. I will only highlight the exceptional strength of the film overall.
Points of interest:
District 9 is an innovative Science Fiction film that reaches into the mind and emotions of its audience, seizes it, and provides it a stout thrashing. Concepts such as: equality, the value of life, exploitation, humanity's inhumanity, government/corporate deception, the list continues. These concepts are blended into the film and the result is eye candy that suggests that the human race is not the all-knowing all-important gift to the universe it sees itself as.
What I liked about the movie
The acting in D-9 (District 9) is absolutely superior! It is the first time in years I have had any emotional connection to the characters in a film. I have seen reviews arguing that the movie was poor due to the frustration they felt toward a certain character, to which I respond: Don't you think the actor playing the character was TRYING to make you frustrated? It would then seem the acting was very good if it made you feel something. After all, a movie is art, and art exists to play on the emotions of people.
D-9 is designed to make you upset that the naive aliens are so easily taken advantage of and that furthermore the humans don't mind, and mostly delight in causing the aliens grief, misery, and death, without so much as a hint of remorse.
D-9's plot demonstrates a pessamistic view of the human race which really can't be denied, although people in general are too pompous and selfish to admit it.
D-9 contains mature content, gore, violence, and swearing abound through the film. The latter in my opinion adding to the believability of the film. If you're upset because you are being evicted from a slum and forced into a lower class slum that is in effect a concentration camp / prison; without good cause and illegally, you might just be a little upset, and you might just swear a time or two hm?(in reference to the aliens eviction.)
D-9 demonstrates the psychology of man to turn on his fellow man without hesitation if there is a big enough prize at stake. (in reference to alien weaponry and the hunt for Wikus.)
D-9 highlights the fickle nature of man when Wikus begins mutating and no longer views his job as all important since the people he serves now hunt him like an animal. Instead he turns as anyone would to the only ones that might understand him and help him, the aliens.
D-9 examines the tendancy of man to stereotype, or group, individuals. The aliens are "stupid bottom feeders" seems to be the common idea throughout the people of Johannesburg. I suppose the idea that they traveled billions of light years in a spacecraft that even now hovers over their city and contains weapons that even after 20 years our scientists can not use and technology never fathomed on earth just doesn't seem like a big deal after a certain length of time.... stupid aliens.... I say stupid people.
D-9 leaves you wanting more, just like a good magician does, both are entertainment, and if you don't want more, then you likely didn't enjoy the show! I wanted more, and I am anticipating a sequel. That being said, if we don't get a sequel that ties up some loose ends I will rewrite this whole review in the negative!
D-9 reminds us of the old "tribal beliefs" some of which include eating your enemy to gain his powers. An example of this is the belief of the Nigerians that if they ate the aliens they would be able to use the alien weapons.
D-9 has EYE CANDY!!!! I love love love the special effects and computer animation it was rendered so seamlessly I had to research what was real and what wasn't, like the MNU headquarters building for example, no the MNU logo and helicopters were not real.
The aliens are in plain light, shown frequently, and no attempt is made to cut costs by hiding them.
The action scenes are very exciting, and very detailed, good examples are during the alien weapons experiments when bits of gore are blown back on Wikus after firing a weapon, additionally his expression of disbelief is absolutely classic!
The "robotic battle suit" looked real and was even acted realisticly since Wikus had never piloted such a machine before, he was falling frequently (bipedal robot,) I think he did really well figuring it out!
D-9 has sarcastic, dry humor. An example is when Wikus is throwing cans of some sort toward a group of aliens in an urgent and almost fearful manner. A human character asks "what is that you're throwing, is it tear gas?" Wikus responds "no" and in just enough time to allow you to ask yourself "well what is it then? A bomb?" he adds "It's cat food, they love cat food" apparently trying to buy their team some good favor with the group of aliens instead of panicking and attacking them.
What I didn't like about the movie:
I really can't think of a single thing. The film had me in constant suspense which was exhausting, how about that, I felt sore from being tense afterward. It might have problems funding a sequel because Joe six-pack and Sally soccer-mom don't get it.
Finally to answer my own question at top I believe people are inherently evil and thus any portrayal of them in an evil way is more realistic and believable than the typical and predictable good vs evil plot. District 9 rocks!
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: None of the Above
Viewing Method: Other
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
blueshadesguy
|
|
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.