District 9

 

District 9

Starring: Sharlto Copley,Robert Hobbs,Jason Hope

Director: Neil Blomkamp

Genre: Sci Fi, Action, Drama

Rated: R

The head of the MNU tries to relocate Aliens from the ghetto known as District 9, he comes in contact with a fluid that begins to turn him into one of the Aliens and is hunted down by his former company.

District 9 is a SCI-FI film based in Johannesburg South Africa, Which makes the allegory between aliens in a ghetto and South African apartheid all the more compelling. The pseudo documentary feel that bookends the film is used for superb affect.

For twenty years a giant alien ship has hovered over Johannesburg the inhabitants all million and a half plus have been living in a walled off ghetto, these poor conditions have caused them to display behavior that makes the humans want to relocate them to an alien concentration camp.

Wikus (outstanding newcomer Sharlto Copley) is in charge of evicting the “prauns” (slang term for the aliens) and relocating them to the district 10 camp. Things go wrong for Wikus when he is sprayed in the face with a black mist that begins to turn him into a praun. He is hunted down by MNU and Nigerian gangs that are interested in how to duplicate the transformation for themselves, thus allowing them to use the genetically linked alien weaponry that humans cant.

From the get go District 9 brings something new to the Genre from integrating alternative footage (interviews, security cameras, etc.) you know the movie is unique. The special effects are outstanding; the mothership, the praun’s themselves as well as the alien weaponry are all excellently done. The Praun themselves are able to convey emotion that not one human actor in GI JOE was able to do. Dstrict 9 is hands down the best film of the summer and one of the best ever in its Genre being both smart and exciting. District 9 proves that there is more to a good movie than just a big budget and horrible special effects. District 9 is a lesson to the studio’s on how it is possible to make a great movie; That content and quality as well as new ideas are still possible in this day and age.

Rating: Four Sniper Kittens

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Tagged with: Africa • District 9 • Johannesburg • Movie Reviews • Neill Blomkamp • Nigeria • Sharlto Copley • South Africa • South Africa under apartheid

Filed under: Movie Reviews

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