District 9 (Or just Dic-nine)

Preface. (yes that's what I do)

1) Spoiler Alert (aka Rancid Banana behind the couch?)

2) Have yet to read the Official Brodie Review but have interviewed her extensively

Humanity. The Horror.

The setup-tremendous. 20 years ago an alien space craft, looking like a metallic upside down wedding cake, limps into Earth's atmosphere and abruptly stops and chills over the fine South African city of Johannesburg (Jo'Burg). On Board a race of low class, malnourished, worker bee, giant fugly insects festering in their own filth. We do what any good humans would do faced with a mass of refugees- we put them in a slum shanty town/concentration camp and blame them for all our problems. The Films exponsitionary vehicle is the documentary style they enact with lots of talking heads foreshadowing events while providing compelling back story of historical events melded with "live" action footage.

Any bonehead that claims this movie is deeply allegorical or has undertones of actual events is in fact proving that they are a bonehead. That is not to say it's great it's just hearing or reading of the "undertones" people discuss makes me puke. IT's A friggin BAT to the FACE. Which is great cuz the movie doesn't pull any punches in that sense. The environment is dark gritty real despite giant insect like click-clacking aliens all part of the action. The prominent back drop ,which is the upside down wedding cake or the bottom of cloud city from Empire known as the alien spaceship, serves as a great image for the movie and is used often juxtaposing the area between downtown and the ship as District 9. Some real nice shots for an eye candy addict like myself. The Aliens are always a close part of the action and with the creation of the documentary style allows me to suspend all reality and fall into this cold world.

Wikus Van De Merwe (Newcomer Sharlto Copley) is the Main Character as we follow this bumbling over acting heavy accented corporate stooge lead a excursion into the 9 in order to serve eviction notices to the Cat Food Eating populace. I'm Loving everything about this movie until about 30 minutes into it when I suddenly realize I'm trying hard to like this guy, chuckling a few times thinking it's supposed to be funny. It's not, it could have been, but it's just not. I really thought it was bad overacting and my biased desire to like this film was getting in my way and thus took me out of the film. Never fear, 4-5 quick handfuls of popcorn and sucks of a diet coke revived my interest. "Vikus" is a racist bastard who really has no redeeming qualities and I found myself routing for No one at the end except for the one Humane aspect of the film who was Chris Johnson. Yup the only intelligent alien. Chris Johnson. Love it.

The Pace is brisk and I was tearing my fingers into the armrests at times. Mix in some cool ass alien technology and a pretty satisfying few action sequences merge into basically a giant chase sequence make it a good movie to see especially in the theatre.

I feel the movie had the ingredient maybe to make a bigger impact; move me; cause change.
It just presents the world as shit and we are destined to shit all over each other and gravely repeat mistakes. I think potentially a more sympathetic character could have led me there, but then again I love the fact that it wasn't formula, wasn't cheap in it's character development (cuz there was none) . I found myself not routing for anyone- wishing for the humans to die, the main character to suffer, the aliens to die except for the two most "human" aliens. Maybe in hindsight that was the point. But I felt a little emotional devoid. Empty I left my seat really liking the movie yet thinking somehow they fucked up. Maybe they just held up a mirror and I didn't like it one bit.

They are destined to return in a possible sequel, wouldn't mind seeing the aliens creating district 10 made up of humans.