Viewed in
2009
Premise
In present day 2000's, District 9 is a refugee camp for a shipwrecked group of alien species.
Who should watch
Those who want to see the alien genre told in an intelligent, realistic and unique way.
Thoughts
In the past, aliens were portrayed as omnipotent advanced beings, magical cuddly creatures or simply monsters. I've never seen them quite as human. Here, the Prawns, as they're called, were leader-less, power-less, forced to live in slums, subservient to warlords, bureaucracy and addiction.
I liked the documentary storytelling of the film. It was quite believable with the character behaviors and realistic violence, with the documentary style as icing to the cake. The main flaw was that it succumbed to the current fad of making every shot hand-held. It annoyed me, brought nothing to the story, and gave my friend motion sickness.
My favorite parts of the film were in the first half, as it had an allegory feel to it. I was interested in exploring the themes of refugee camps, and racism (species-ism? specism?). While the second half was much more action-oriented, I was fully invested in the characters and their predicaments, and the story was consistently intelligent and plausible, so I was still on for the ride.
My friend and I argued about the ending. She believed that it was open-ended to set up a possible sequel. I doubted that there is anything left in the story to tell. I like films that made us think.
Please note that I had not mentioned the special effects. Consider that as a compliment. The film makers put story first, and used excellent special effects to enhance the experience.
Audiences who are tired of typical aliens should find this believable, unique twist on the genre as a breath of fresh air.
What I would change
Reduced some of the gore. It was consistent with the realistic style, but, just like the overuse of hand held cameras, too much is too much.
