District 9 Review

Over the years, there have been dozens of movies with aliens, oppressive organizations, and flashy gun battles that were groundbreaking and original. District 9 is not one of those movies.

A science fiction film directed by first time director Neill Blomkampf, District 9 is about a race of aliens whose ship runs out of fuel above Johannesburg, South Africa. The aliens, called “prawns,” are brought down to earth and put into a slum neighborhood known as District 9. There, they are isolated from the rest of society and unable to leave. The main character, Wikus van de Merwe, is somewhat of an ambassador for the humans. He goes door to door, serving the prawns eviction notices to move them to a new area: District 10. Upon entering the “house” (the term being used very loosely) of one of them, he is sprayed with an alien liquid, and his body begins to change. Hunted by the government due to this transformation, Wikus has to find a way to escape and revert back to being himself, both physically and mentally.

The sheer amount of inexperience in the production of District 9 is beyond hindering to the movie’s success: it is crippling. Not only was this Neill Blomkampf’s first major direction, but Sharlto Copley, the actor who plays Wikus, had never acted prior to working on the movie.

Copley over-acts in many of the movie’s scenes, in what could only be classified as a failed attempt to stir some sort of emotion from the audience. Any director with even the slightest amount of experience would have made a point to correct a problem of this caliber. Neill Blomkampf, however, must have found this display of groan-inducing, overly-dramatized non-acting to be enjoyable.

District 9’s plot changes so many times throughout the course of its unnecessarily long 112 minute runtime that the main objective of the movie becomes unclear. Had Blomkampf stuck to one path and developed it instead of changing his mind every five minutes, the movie may have stood a chance. On second thought, simply having the combination of Blomkampf and Copley on the same set doomed the movie from the beginning.

The movie’s only saving grace is its visual presentation. The special effects were pleasant to view, however it is not nearly enough to actually warrant a viewing of the movie. The movie may have been more enjoyable had it disregarded its symbolic and emotional elements and been a straight action flick, but such a statement would be considered blasphemy to Blomkampf. It had the visuals: the special effects were the only bearable part of the movie, but it is impossible to make a good movie off visuals alone. A $250,000 sports car might look beautiful on the outside, but if someone puts the engine of a beat up lawnmower in it, it’s not going to accomplish much.

While Blomkampf somehow managed to brainwash thousands of critics into seeing some hidden positive attribute of the movie, the few critics able to hold off his influence have the right idea: Armond White of NYPress.com says, “District 9 represents the sloppiest and dopiest pop cinema – the kind that comes from a second-rate film culture.” Blomkampf also managed to lure the rest of America into his inexperienced clutches, allowing District 9 to debut at number 1 at the box office. There is no way for America to justify its actions for allowing this to happen, or in any way attempt to lessen the damage done by this nationwide lapse in judgment.

District 9 is a convoluted, unappealing mess that puts to shame the science fiction genre. The fact that this movie even made it to the big screen is sad enough, but that it has continued to thrive for a whole month is nothing short of repulsive. The worst part of the movie wasn’t even in it: it was the announcement following its release that interest has been expressed in developing a sequel. Should Neill Blomkampf be the director of this completely unwarranted sequel (there’s no way around it; of course he will be), it must be boycotted completely as punishment for forcing people to endure such a terrible torture.