District 9 Review

If there is life out there beyond Earth, do these creatures want to kill us or take up relatively cheap housing in South Africa? It truly is food for thought. For those wondering, ponder this no longer, as District 9 looks to clear that up with relative ease. Although director Neill Blomkamp’s feature film released over a decade ago, it’s surprising how much discourse there still is around the film. Considered one of the finest modern-day science fictions of all, this South African set-piece follows a man tasked with evicting “prawns” from their homes in the titular District 9.

Teaming up with Sharlto Copley is always a great start, it’s strange how fond I am of him on the screen when he predominantly features in some relatively bleak stuff. The Last Days of American Crime to The A-Team, his track record is shaky at best. Still, his natural charisma and competent acting abilities may be keeping him afloat. His leading performance as Wikus van der Merwe is an interesting one, showcasing a man inflicted with a virus that soon turns him into a creature he looks to evict. He hides in the very place his company looked to tear down, so there’s the obvious parallels with any sort of message Blomkamp looks to get across. It’s not an interesting style or a message that hasn’t been presented with more confidence and conviction, but it never detracts from a story that feels a tad bland at times.

Blomkamp and Copley present competent scenes, dialogue that isn’t too stressed about being incredibly focused or on the nose. I can appreciate that vagueness, but when the treatment is handled relatively clumsily by the rest of the cast, it’s hard to even feign interest in what happens to our heroes. Copley is a confident presence on-screen, but his character comes across as arrogant and not at all likeable, so making the jump from office-worker and mundane man to a protagonist we need to feel sorry for to have any connection with is a certainly difficult change to make.

Whilst Blomkamp seems to have found a general niche that he can continue to work in, it’s rather concerning to see that his directorial debut hits on all the notes that his other works seemingly do also. Aliens that are civil but opposed by humanity, looking for equality, understanding the other side of the argument. They’re all relatively important messages, and Blomkamp gets away with adapting them into science fiction by providing some generally enjoyable creature designs and innovative attempts littered throughout. Moving from a documentary style of filmmaking, and then forgetting all about it halfway through, only to pick it back up right at the end. It’s clunky, unpolished, but rather compelling in a strange sort of way. It feels rather nice to experience some new format, a different way of telling the story, so whilst the effort is there, the execution feels a bit scattered.

Whilst its political message and ruminations on Apartheid are tremendously clear and half-baked, District 9 is a fine sci-fi piece that applies a flurry of camera and directing styles in an approach that does its best to see what sticks. From there, it develops itself rather half-heartedly into a drama and thriller mash-up that fixates on survival amid predators and new enemies. A film that lacks any sort of heart or interest, it’s hard to feel at all involved with the proceedings of District 9.