District 9
August 23, 2009
3.5 stars out of 5
On the one hand, the parallels with Apartheid are unmistakable. It is a real change of pace to have an alien spaceship hover over some city OTHER than New York or Los Angeles (as the sound track was quick to point out). Neill Blomkamp, who directed and co-wrote the film started with the unusual locale and added a fascinating premise: the aliens have been here, segregated for 20 years. He then sends a bunch of Afrikanners into the district to move the aliens out. It is a mixed bag; they treat their black colleagues like colleagues, but treat the evolved and intelligent aliens like--well, like prawns, which is the derogatory nickname. The thing is, he doesn't really go anywhere with the premise. It ends up being an excuse for a shoot-em-up. A better excuse than usual, but still just an excuse. The first half confused the heck out of me; I much preferred the reversion to linear story telling in the second half. A real mixed bag of a film. Clever but hollow.