Rating: R (Bloody violence, pervasive language)
Runtime: 112 minutes
Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller/Action
Introduction and Anecdote
It has been a long time since I've been able to see a science-fiction film that I thought was... ya'know... good. Leafing through the pages and endless recommendations from Netflix, and trying to avoid my recent picked up addiction to the TV series Leverage, I decided to give out a movie that I had heard rave reviews about: District 9. From what other reviewers promised me: it was a ride to remember, a true struggle between humans and aliens that I could get behind and really feel for the characters. Furthermore, they promised me that this movie had action that would give me reprieve from Michael Bay's... explosions. Upon actually watching the movie myself, on this Tuesday morning; I have this to say: "This movie has been hyped up to be exactly what it isn't."
Story and Characters
Let's begin by working over the two most important (at least in my humble opinion) tenets of a quality film: the story behind it and the characters involved. What we have here story-wise is the same stagnant story that's been told a thousand times over in recent years about how the military sucks, and that anyone who is a soldier is automatically assumed to be an amoral jackass with one hand clutching a work of Nietzsche and the other firmly clasped around the handle of a gun, just waiting for the chance to be the bloodthirsty sadist we've all learned to hate.
To be fair; the story is told well, but a golden shit is still shit. I have a long rant bottled up about how I'm tired of this whole uber-testosterone junk that's been plaguing the market since Halo was first released (although, probably before then, too). The first hundred times it was at least interesting, but now that every bloody magazine, game, movie, book, and news channel seems to obsess over the idea of the following story:
1. Protagonist works for corrupt company without knowing they're corrupt.
2. Protagonist finds out company is corrupt and turns on them, siding with the previously thought to be "bad guys", who are really just misunderstood good guys.
3. Protagonist et all leads attack on corrupt company with the idea of self-martyrdom if the plan doesn't work out well (read: "an hero")
4. ???
5. PROFIT!
Different names, different characters, different places, different means of doing things... but the story follows the same B.S. story that makes me end up wanting to never watch a modern movie again.
Characters, I'll say were better, but still not quite good. I felt for the alien's plight and sympathized with the idea of more-or-less what is a retelling of any concentration camp story you've ever heard, ever, and felt remorse when I saw soldiers destroying eggs of the aliens. The rest of the characters, however, seemed like your usual text-book protagonists/antagonists as the rest of the telling of the story: protagonist is an "everyman" who the crowd can sympathize with when he's thrown into an environment that's not only hostile, but also very different from what we know. Antagonists are "The Company", and generic soldiers whose sadistic thirst for blood seems unable to be sated, and they don't care who fills the quota. What would have made the movie better is if there was more of the protagonist's worried wife who had no idea what in the hell was going on and was left to be worried and heartbroken by the disappearance of her husband. But, since we have to make screen-time for the big men with guns to flex their muscles and shout demeaning things, that apparently shows too much emotion.
In fact, that's what a good hunk of the story and characters lacked above all else: emotion. Sure I felt bad for the downtrodden masses who were being forced around by a totalitarian power, but aside from that I didn't feel anything for any specific person. Well, maybe disgust for how generic soldiers x, y, and z, could just rampantly murder innocents a, b, and c, but... enough with the Nazi metaphors! I'm worried that sooner or later I'm going to see The Diary of Anne Frank and think "Who cares?!".
Admittedly, the bittersweet ending is something to be seen, and (as much as I know I'm going to hate myself in the future) makes me want to see the next installment, if only just to see how things turn out.
Action and Cinematography
Of course what would a self proclaimed "thriller" and action movie be without... well, action! Well, for a change of pace I really did enjoy the action bits of this movie. It's not your Michael Bay Exlplosions Robots 5 with loud noises and big guns, but it's not an epic like 300 either. Again, I found myself thinking, "Well, it's all very nice, but..." because truth be told it comes down to what any movie detailing AK47s and more "realistic" protagonists does: there's no cool acrobatics or kung fu, or even a lousy leap of faith. No, all the "fighting" done comes in one variety: firefights. Big men with guns standing up against other big people with guns and firing at one another until the one side falls down or retreats.
Fortunately, it seems that the director knew that just having AK vs AR gets boring as all hell, and introduced the "alien weaponry" and gave it the special rule that, "only the aliens can use them due to a special genetic code sensors within the technology." This is where the "thriller" comes in, because these weapons are all about the gore. Every shot from the favorite gun of the movie, makes whatever is unlucky enough to be in it's way to be blown to pieces, meaning humans become vaporized giblets. BUT, for as many guns are showcased in a particular scene of the movie that would show so much more promise and excite the little man that applauds new and interesting ways of killing people, the movie sticks to this one, single gun or standard human weaponry that becomes just what it feared: dull. After seeing the twelfth guy be turned into a red mist and hunks of meat I started to wonder if I'd ever get to see the conflagration gun that I saw earlier, or maybe a specialized grenade launcher capable of launching what looks like a nano-nuke. Hell, I'd settle for what happened early in the movie with an alien kicking a man so hard it ripped his arms off and aside from the one instance, the aliens remain this weak and powerless beings that act more like beaten children than a repressed minority trying to rise against it's oppressor.
Another big problem I had with this was the fateful "action camera" that has taken over since the Blair Witch craze. That's right; the shaky, hand-held camera that decides to go berserk during particularly tense moments. I've heard excuses like, "Oh, it's just to make it more tense!" or "It's to keep it within the idea that the movie is actually done by amateurs!" but my response remains the same in every time I see it: get a frigging tripod so we don't have to deal with your seizures. This doesn't make for good tension and disengages viewers entirely when they can't even make out what the hell is going on. It's like trying to look at a piece of abstract modern art: you can take vague guesses on glimpses of things you might see, but it really it comes across as a big mess that's supposed to be sold for thousands. Hand-held shots are fine, but not if the user has Parkinson's.
In the movie's defense, once again, I'll admit that when the camera isn't taking the opportunity to shake, rattle, and roll, the idea that it's a documentary-like creation that's taking place both during and after the fact does make it seem a little more three-dimensional. I just wish that the cameras during action scenes didn't have to be all about making you nauseated.
Special Effects
In this day and age, it seems like every movie has to have epic CG within it or it's branded as low-budget crap. Movies like Avatar proved that people don't always care if there's a story to be had or even much sustenance to what's going on so long as it looks pretty (*cough cough PS3 eat your heart out cough*). District 9 does follow through with the effects, yes, and it's part of what makes the movie passable, in my humble opinion.
The detail of the "prawns", as they are called, is done incredibly well (with motion capture, mind you), and I found myself in awe when I noticed that the creature's eyes not only looked real, but almost as if behind those eyes there was a real person there, a true soul begging for mercy. Furthermore, looking into the gore effects and even just the intricacy of the "slummy" environment of District 9 itself, I give the special effects team a round of applause and a pat on the back for a job well done. I wish I could rave more, but I want to avoid spoilers, so let me just say that the changing stages are amazingly well rendered on that character, and it was interesting to see little bits change as time went on, not only in them as a person, but... well, see the movie, you'll see what I mean.
Wrap-up
All in all, District 9 is the kind of movie to see for guilty action pleasures, not for a deep story or particularly interesting characters, and this time it comes with no Micheal-Bay-ism, so it actually feels appropriate rather than overblown nonsense.
I do have my complaints about the movie, but if nothing else it's worth picking up to watch, and I'll look forward to seeing a sequel or prequel (whichever he decides on) to learn more about what the "prawns" really are, or how Earth continues to deal with aliens after such a large incident. Worth watching, but not particularly mind-blowing.
~Sui
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Hope you enjoyed, and if you have any tips, comments, questions, or constructive criticisms; I welcome them with open arms, mind, and ears.
P.S. Yes, I've seen Cube Zero. Yes, I plan to review it. I just don't know when I'll finally find the words for how I felt about it. I'll hopefully finish up my Cube Trillogy review soon.
