District 9 (2009)
My wife and I looked at one another trying to make sense out of this film from the start. We knew going into the theater it was going to be a film dealing with aliens from another world.
The start of the story was done in the style of a news report documentary which may throw some viewers for a loop. It took a while to understand what direction District 9 was headed and the main story kicks in about 30 minutes into the picture.
I liked how it was done, director Neill Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson did a fine job at bringing an unstable situation to life on the screen. The premise is these alien creatures have been living among us for 20 years in the year 2010 with their non-functional spaceship hovering above Johannesburg, South Africa.The aliens are rampant in this particular area called District 9 and most of them have been sick from lack of nourishment.
There has been trade established on the black market between the leader of the Nigerian people and the alien creatures, they crave cat food of all things. And they seem to stop at nothing to obtain it. Mumbo is the leader of the black market who also practices voodoo in trying to obtain the power of the alien creature by digesting pieces of them.
I will warn some viewers that parts of the film are a bit graphic and I wouldn’t recommend younger children to see this film. While we were at the theater there were small children with their parents and I wondered how seeing a movie like this would affect them.
The leading character Wikus Van De Merwe is played by Sharlto Copley who after seeing this film and his performance, I think is worthy of an Oscar nomination for his portrayal in this role.
You really feel for him and his character after a watching everything he goes through. Vanessa Haywood plays his wife named Tania Van De Merwe and she tries her best to cope with the situation that happens.
I will not give you all the details, so you can see for yourself what happens, but this is a very good science fiction piece. Johan van Schoor is Nicolas is Van De Merwe, her father and also works with the government and quite ruthless in this role.
There are a multitude of characters being interviewed throughout the film in the style of a news report; Nathalie Boltt is one of the standouts playing the role of Sarah Livingstone who is a Sociologist.
More of the cast includes: Jason Cope as the Grey Bradnam – UKNR Chief Correspondent, Sylvaine Strike is Dr Katrina McKenzie, John Summer is Les Feldman – MIL Engineer, Elizabeth Mkandawie is an Interviewee, William Allen Young is Dirk Michaels, Greg Melvill-Smith is the Interviewer and Nick Blake is Francois Moraneu part of the CIV Engineer Team. Morena Busa Sesatsa is an Interviewee; Themba Nkosi is an Interviewee as well as Barry Strydom.
After everything that has happened, the people are forced to use a private organization Multi-National United (MNU) to help evict the aliens into a secret location beneath the earth and harnessing the creature’s weapon technology.
It is not until later more is found out in the film. There of course is an uprising with the alien creatures and the humans in the area, frustration is everywhere. The creatures are bug-like in their appearance and move swiftly.
The special effects team did a nice job at making this look pretty realistic in some regards. This is of course a science fiction film, and it was interesting take on the aliens coming to earth scenario.
I thought it was worthwhile to see in the theater if you can catch it. The screenplay was written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell. The filmmakers left room for a sequel and no doubt there will be one it seems to be doing well at the box office.
