District 9

I don't get out much. Not to the movies, anyway. It's mostly a time and money thing, mainly the lack of one or both, but also, I'm rarely interested enough in a new movie to spend both time and money to go see it. Not because I don't like movies; I love movies...I just like movies that are good, interesting, compelling, entertaining - and not dumbed-down crapfests aimed at people who don't know any better. Thankfully, my wonderful friend Grace (who indubitably knows better) obtained free passes to an advance screening last night of District 9, I had time to go, and now that I've seen it, I'm actually willing to spend both time and money to see it again. It is that good.

I am, in general, supportive of the "summer movie" that is all about action & spectacle and light on story, as long as whatever story it does have actually works. I may not see those movies, but I support their existence. District 9 isn't one of those movies; it isn't light on anything. It's packed full of action & satire, sympathetic heroes & snarling villains, political commentary & brutal alien weaponry...plus the aliens themselves, which almost never appear to be special effects, even though they are. They look like they're right there in the scene, interacting with props & humans. Sometimes the humans are the props...

What makes this movie work is that the aliens not only don't look like special effects, they're not treated like them either. They're simply characters in the film, a part of the story. No special attention is paid to them; no one is saying "Look at all the work our animators put into making them look awesome, don't they look awesome?" They do, but that isn't the point. They're part of the scene, and only the focus of the scene when the story requires it.

The story itself does not quite go in the direction one might expect. Early in the film, bureaucrat-in-the-field Wikus Van Der Merwe is in the process of evicting aliens from their shacks (during an extended documentary-style opening that is constantly fascinating and entertaining) when he is accidentally exposed to some type of alien fluid...while it's easy to guess what effect this fluid will have on him, the direction the movie takes in the progression of events is not where I thought it would go...and I appreciate that. So if you think the movie is going to be about the widespread effect of these aliens on the Earth's environment...you will be quite happy with the unexpected.

What makes it work is that it doesn't turn into that type of global story; it's a personal story. It actually starts out bigger, with many people involved, and slowly narrows itself down to just a few individuals. And in the midst of this fascinating tale, there are great action scenes, smart writing, quality humor, and extremely heavy satire that doesn't feel heavy at all. The writing and direction maintain the tone of the sci-fi/action movie, when what it's really about is something much more serious and thought-provoking. That's what good science fiction does - creates a story of what is not, while reflecting what is.

Social commentary aside, the movie just kicks ass. It slows down a bit in the middle, but not long enough to lose interest, and there are certainly a few moments throughout where one might question the filmmakers' judgement ("Go on!" "No, I'm not leaving you behind!"), but overall it's just really damn good. The previously unknown lead actor gives an incredibly terrific performance, all the more impressive considering he'd never acted before, and spent much of his screen time talking to characters who weren't even on the set. The action is shot and edited so you can actually see what's going on, instead of most movies where it's cut up so hysterically that I can't even tell what I just saw. And no slow-motion shots at all, if I recall correctly - because when people use slo-mo in their action scene, they just want it to look cool. They usually don't care about the story, and the story in District 9 is definitely driving the film.

Toward the end of the movie, when there's a lot more action and very little downtime, it isn't just about shooting and blowing things up - the actions of the characters are very emotionally motivated. There's truly something at stake for them, good and bad, from beginning to end, and that kind of thing is what makes this film so much more rewarding. Nothing is overdone, everything is well-thought out, and I am thoroughly impressed with the storytelling. Absolutely the best movie I've seen this year. I can hardly wait to see it again.