"District 9"
Reviewed 10 August 2009 by Ted Faraone
2 ½ stars out of five. $6.00 ticket on a scale of $0 to $12.
DISTRICT SEQUEL
“District 9,” the latest from South African helmer Neill Blomkamp (who shares screenplay credit with Terri Tatchell) via Sony, gets off to a slow start. For the first hour, little but exposition happens. This may be due in part to pic’s format as part “documentary” shot for South African TV. Much exposition is disposed of by talking heads. The rest is in the form of uncut news footage live reports. Fortunately for auds, the remainder of 112 minute pic takes off with action galore – as well as blood, violence, explosions -- and not a little depravity.
It’s part thriller, part action adventure, part buddy flick, and part allegory for Apartheid, all built on a sci-fi foundation. That’s a lot packed into one picture, but Blomkamp more or less pulls it off. It’s also crafted to lend itself to a sequel, which may please both studio and exhibitors if prequel soars at box office.
Pic’s premise is simple: A disabled spaceship full of aliens who look like big flies and speak in unintelligible grunts, comes to a stop hovering over
The government have contracted the alien removal to the world’s second largest maker of armaments, “Multinational United” (MNU), which runs a private army. MNU also has a hidden agenda. The aliens brought with them spectacularly destructive weapons which only they can operate. They’re biometric. They work only for folks carrying alien DNA. If MNU can figure out to put alien DNA into humans, something that has never succeeded, it can corner the market on these weapons. Enter Wikus Van De Merwe, son-in-law of local MNU chieftan and ably played by Sharlto Copley. He is the front man for the alien removal. He is also a dimwit who takes his job seriously. Clearing District 9, he stumbles on a tube of alien fluid which he accidentally sprays onto himself. The damage is done. He slowly begins to turn into an alien. He also becomes a hunted man. MNU operates a secret biomedical lab where they plan to dismember Van De Merwe alive in order to harvest his contaminated DNA at the most propitious moment.
Van De Merwe naturally takes exception. Lucky for him, the alien DNA makes him aggressive and gives him superhuman strength – and some brains. Anyone remember “The Fly?” He breaks out of MNU and goes on the lam, hiding in the only place he can, District 9. There, he encounters “Christopher,” the top alien, and his son. Aliens are played by robots. Christopher has hidden the control module of the spaceship under his shack. The fluid found by Van De Mewre is its fuel.
Here’s where the buddy film starts. Christopher and Van De Mewre team up to “liberate” the fluid from MNU, an act requiring a great deal of high explosive, much of it got from Nigerian gangsters who prey on aliens. Thereby hangs an amusing subplot, which almost turns “District 9” in to “Transformers.” Van De Mewre’s goal in the guerilla action is medical help on the spaceship to be turned back into a human. Christopher’s is to return to his planet and get help for his “people,” who are being carved up in MNU’s biomedical labs. Will they make it? Will MNU’s bloodthirsty private army stop them? Will Van De Mewre become human again?
Here’s where the sequel comes in. Call it “District 10.” It’s a well crafted ending, not exactly a Hayes Office finale, but morally satisfying yet sufficiently equivocal on which to build a franchise.
Rated “R,” “District 9” contains foul language, a surfeit of violence, and more vomiting than it needs. It is not suitable for pre-teens. Tech credits, except for sound recording, are adequate. Editing by Julian Clarke is notably economical.
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