District 9 Movie Review: Cool, Unique but “Buggy”
I went to District 9 on Sunday afternoon with friends. I walked into the movie knowing zero about it other than it had something to do with aliens, and that it was produced by Peter Jackson. A couple of my friends seemed really excited to see it, so I tagged along.
I liked the movie. It was definitely “unique”, something I hadn’t quite seen before. It had a lot of action, and some pretty good acting. Wikus van de Merwe is played by Sharlto Copley, an actor/director/producer that I had never heard of before. Apparantly, (and I didn’t learn this until after seeing the movie), Copley improvised all of his dialogue in this film. That is very interesting to me because I felt torn about this acting performance. On one hand, it was very, very good. He gives this kind of nutty, funny performance, while still managing to kick some butt in action scenes, show fear in terrifying situations, and express deep love and sorrow when talking to his wife. Yet, when he gets angry or flustered, his vocabulary becomes limited to mostly F-bombs, which I admittedly do not care for.
The biggest critique I have about the film, is that I was unable to establish much emotional attachment to any of the characters in this movie. On one side you have the human race who fears or hates the aliens, and confines them to living in slum-like conditions. Maybe I should hate them and cheer on the aliens? But the aliens go around killing people, and look like giant, upright grasshoppers. So then should I cheer for Wikus? Well, he is part of the human establishment that persecutes the aliens and later becomes a target himself, so really from start to finish I’m just not sure who to side with. The result is a very cool, unique movie, where I found myself excited to see what happens next, but not really caring what that might happen to be. Who lives, who dies– who cares– oh that was a cool explosion!
In summary, I liked the movie for its action, special effects, uniqueness, and some good acting, but the film isn’t perfect either.
My sentiments exactly, Chad. This is an excellent review. I give it four stars (the review, not the movie). I ,too, longed for someone to care about in this film. I think the Wikus character comes closest, because he seemed to be a likable nincompoop who was duped into doing the evil deed of moving the prawns out of Johannesburg. I can blame his seeming zeal for the task on wanting to prove his worth to his father-in-law. All this is a lengthy way to say “It isn’t easy to find a hero in this film”.
One positive I will grant this film is its intelligence. I thought it was an intricate and thought provoking plot. I am amazed at my almost instant desensitization when it came to ordinary people getting turned inside out by alien weapons, though. After awhile it felt like watching “Man getting hit in the groin by football” and I felt a bit bad about myself.
Good Weird Sick Smart Violent Careless Movie
Adam d:o)
HAHAHA!
I get it.
“Buggy”.
‘Cause the aliens look like bugs.
That was quite *punny*, my friend.
Yay, this one is my favorite!!! I love it!