District 9

District 9 is, in many ways, a very strong film. The debut feature for writer/director Neill Blomkamp starts with some very interesting ideas. The film's conceit is that Aliens have landed just outside Johannesburg, not on purpose, but out of some unknown necessity, and are now, essentially, refugees. In a day and age where it seems like 9 out of 10 films are adaptations or sequels, this fresh idea was interesting enough to pique my curiosity.

Setting the film in Johannesburg is also a very effective choice. It informs the style of the film very effectively, as many of the accents and characters, which are bright spots for the film, could only exist in Africa. I'd like to think that Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) placed it in South Africa to highlight some of the movie's more interesting points about intolerance and bigotry in humanity, but part of me thinks Blomkamp simply wanted to shoot a movie in his own hometown of Johannesburg. Still, whatever the reason, it's a strong choice and it gives the movie a decidedly unique flavor, which, paired with their interesting original 'alien refugee' concept, makes the movie feel new and groundbreaking.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the script, which in the end is disappointingly by-the-numbers hollywood. While the first half hour or so is pretty interesting, following Wikus Van De Merwe (played by South African newcomer Sharlto Copley, who is outstanding) as he heads up a attempt by MNU (an evil, blackwater-esque security company that runs the alien ghetto) to move all the Aliens to a 'camp' farther away from the city of Johannesburg (world war two parallels abound). This first bit is shot as a documentary, and Blomkamp does some great stuff, using the documentary style to build tension and imply disaster before anything ever happens. Up to this point, the film upheld it's promise of being something new and different.

However, as things (of course) begin to go wrong for Wikus, the edgy uniqueness of the movie begins to fade. Without spoiling it, the plot takes a few fairly typical action-movie turns, and from there on out, starts to become pretty formulaic. Rather then delving into the real meat of the film (human-alien relations, the politics of refugees), it devolves into yet another war movie, eschewing it's own most interesting ideas in favor of big budget explosions and tacked-on love stories.

Don't get the wrong idea, District 9 is a lot of fun. It will definitely keep your heart pounding as much as any other film I've ever seen (it's a thriller in the truest sense of the word), and has enough new ideas and locales that the film still feels fresh and different. And Sharlto Copley is truly excellent in the film, especially considering how much of his acting had to be done to invisible characters added later in CGI. But, as the film turned further and further away from it's fascinating beginning, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed as a movie that began as so interesting became something so predictable. In the end, it's just another summer alien-blockbuster, albeit one based on some pretty interesting concepts.

SCORES:
Directing- 8/10
Writing- 6/10
Sharlto Copley- 9/10
Effects- 8/10
Overall (not an average): 7/10