District 9 is a 2009 sci-fi action movie directed by Neill Blomkamp. Blomkamp is one of my favorite movie directors of all time. District 9 (2009) movie review
District 9 is about an extraterrestrial alien race who are confined in a slum-like camp. They find a mild-mannered government employee who gets exposed to their technology and helps them fight back. This was Blomkamp’s first feature film that he co-wrote with his wife Terri Tatchell. He produced it with the help of movie veteran Peter Jackson. Blomkamp used to make commercials and short films before moving to this project, which is based on his short film. Youtube Alive in Joburg.
The movie is based on actual historical events where 60,000 people in South Africa were moved to designated slum camps. This was done by their government in 1966. This was during the apartheid era where people were forcibly moved to Cape Flats. These and many other areas were declared “whites only”. Throughout the movie the themes of racism and xenophobia are shown in a form of specism. A derogatory term “prawn” is used as a way to classify the alien race. The Parktown prawn is a real species of king cricket in South America.
They are considered to be pests by the locals, tying it to the negative opinions of prawns in District 9. While the main character (played by Sharlto Copley in his first lead role) has mentioned that the racist undertones are not the main theme of the movie, it is there as a subconscious reminder that it is important.
Blomkamp wanted to film a movie that has a gritty and surreal look to it, as if it is post-apocalyptic and completely devoid of life. In fact, while he was filming there were a lot of days where it was constantly raining, which sprung up greenery at the filming location and Blomkamp didn’t want this. He wanted it to be dark and gloomy so he intentionally cut down some trees to make it more bleak.
A big portion of the movie is filmed in a documentary style with a lot of fictional interviews and news footage segments. It shows a lot of footage of the camp and the prawns who are constantly rummaging around and trying to find cat food, which they consider to be a delicacy. The director wanted the design of the creatures to be both bipedal as well as warrior-like. Their gargling language was created by rubbing pumpkins.
They have an outer shell that is more common to a crustacean species, which would at first evoke a feeling of disgust from the audience. As the film progresses, we start to sympathize with them. The director wanted them to be bipedal. This is due to our hard wired psychological trait that makes us relate to them if they have some form of a human characteristic. Throughout the movie, the ironic theme of a main character becoming more human as he becomes a prawn is heavily emphasized.
This is a very imaginative movie. Not only does it tackle some heavy themes, but it also features great performance from all of the cast. The effects are top notch and the action is beautifully shot and executed. Blomkamp tends to use a lot of sci-fi weapons in his movies and this one is no exception. Some scenes are gut wrenching while others are insanely graphic. With a budget of only 30 million USD, the director was able to show a very compelling story. It sets it apart from many other movies that came out in the last few decades. It shows heart and it shows a lot of effort that was put into bringing an original story that both portrays real emotional distress as well as fantastic action stunts.
I recommend this movie to everybody. I am sure no matter how picky you are about your movies, this movie will have something for you.
Thanks for reading my District 9 (2009) movie review
