District 9: Film Review

I didn't realize how long this movie had been out before I saw it...wow. Amazing how I managed to avoid so many reviews, and so much press about this. I'm glad I did.

Anyway, I really dug this film. I'm going to borrow shamelessly from a friend of mine, and say it was indeed a "total blast," partial pun intended. It's nearly impossible to miss the connections this film has with real life situations going on not only in our own backyard, but all over the world. I enjoyed the setting being Johannesburg, South Africa as opposed to some standard, and these days almost cliché, American city. The setting was a real breath of fresh air.

The story was great, and the special fx were tops. Most surprising for me was how likable the main alien character was. With so little ability to recognize facial expressions of an alien creature, I tip my hat to everyone involved with making him an extremely real character. If he wasn't so clearly an alien, I'd have lost sight of that fact, and been wrapped up in how human he acts. He has feelings, dreams, frustrations and ultimately his story revolves around saving his son. Opposite the alien is the human lead played by Sharlto Copley. He does a fine job as well, and I surprised at the amount of growing he did as a character. His case is one of more character change and growth (literally, and figuratively) than I've seen in quite a while.

My only real complaint is this: the story takes too long to really get going. We sit through the entire first act before anything really happens at all. Normally, the second act is where the "real story" begins so I'm not complaining about that; it's just the first act seemed to drag just a bit too much. Perhaps there was too much background to everything provided...I'm not entirely sure on that. Another thing was seeing the story through the eyes of the news crew was a bit odd. I would have enjoyed a split approach: seeing it through the news crew cameras as well as the "fourth wall" cameras. And though I'm glad the news crew style was eventually abandoned during the second act in favor of the fourth wall, the abandonment felt a bit strange. Perhaps a little more thinking on how to transition better would have been in order. It's a minor complaint, but just something I was bugged by a bit...still a very fun movie.

It ends on a perfect cliff hanger (one that left me wanting more without feeling cheated), and I for one will be very disappointed if there isn't a sequel.