Friday, March 05, 2010

Recently Watched: District 9

I went for polar opposites this week. Following Treeless Mountain, I decided to go for something a little more fictional, a little more sci-fi.

Actually, the two films share a common documentary shooting style. In the case of Treeless Mountain, it comes in the form of viewing scenes straight out without a common narrative line. The narrative line in District 9 is very clear, but they highlight it with a Greek chorus of news reels, fictionalized documentary footage and interviews with experts on the alien refugee camp in Johannesburg.

The opening sequence, spliced together with interviews and docu-style footage, is nothing short of remarkable. It's a great introduction to the story and gets you emotionally involved in the same way you would as if this were being presented as a current world-wide concern.

The special effects are impressive given the relatively low budget. And I'm still not sure if the aliens we saw were purely CGI or a combination involving intricate puppets. Whatever the method, they're impressive looking and avoid the cartoonish feel of most sci-fi aliens.

The films weakness comes in the final act, when the documentary method is cast aside for sci-fi action drama. I'm not sure what Director Neill Blomkamp could have done differently here though. I don't begrudge the need for an action climax, but once chaos ensues, Blomkamp starts relying on sci-fi staples and even a few cliches.

Giant mecha-machine for our protagonist to ride a la Aliens? You bet. Weapons that vaporize the Blackwater-style troops into a slop of blood and gore? Sure. And your primary antagonists will of course die in some karmic fashion that punishes them ironically for their mistreatment of the alien refugees.

But that's forgivable compared to the campy depiction of Nigerian criminals who want to eat the aliens in order to gain their ability to use biological weapons. The scene in which a Nigerian witch doctor prepares the protagonist to be killed and eaten was nothing short of offensive.

These latter aspects will keep District 9 as merely an Oscar nominee this Sunday, I suspect. But don't let me detract anyone from watching this movie. The good so far outweighs the bad that I sad even mentioning it.

2 Comments:

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