So I ended up seeing an advance screening for Neill Blomkamp‘s District 9 tonight present by Sony Pictures (who are also distributing Moon which I hope the will give me tickets for!). As I got to see it before it actually is widely released, I thought I would post up some thoughts about the film. However, as I choose to ignore 99.9% movie reviews myself I call this a “lite review” as I will not attempt to dissect it but rather just post a few pasting impressions.
First up , is this film worth the excitement? Yes. It’s worth because this film, though not quite hitting ever mark, is a damned fine effort from a débutant director. Blomkamp presents a clear voice and employs some choice camera angles and techniques (the ‘gun cam’ was a favourite). Having said that, there is an extensive array of camera techniques used which makes the film an effort to watch, but that’s not a necessary a bad thing in my book.
Like Cloverfield, I’m sure there will be a fair few people who don’t like District 9 simply because of the camera techniques used. That’s a legitimate response though in the end those people are missing out. The film presents an experience more than it does a story. That’s not to say it lacks story, but its not so much the components of the story that are original but the treatment of the themes and concepts. District 9 requires the audience to make some decisions about what they are watching and I really appreciated this. The main character Wikus Van De Merwe, played by first time actor Sharlto Copley, totally grated my sense of what humanity should ideally look like in a time of moral and ethical turmoil. This brings the substance to the film and goes a long way to make D-9 such a good film.
So as this is supposed to be a lite review, I’ll end here by leaving you with some concluding thoughts. I liked this film a lot and there is much you can get out of it whether it be the sci-fi angle, the action sequences, or the exploration of racial prejudice and the underbelly of humanity. While for me it didn’t quite manage to knock Abram’s Star Trek off its perch as “Best Film of the Year”, its the current runner up. Big thumbs up to Neil and a big thumps up to Peter Jackson for taking the time to introduce the film to a very receptive audience. 8.5/10
Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it all ready:
WFC: The Film Club for people who really love movies 