Rent District 9 on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
In a future Earth in which aliens are isolated in a remote ghetto, a government agent finds himself banished there.
Verdict
To make an engaging sci-fi movie is a challenge, but District 9 manages to also create a social commentary about humanity, segregation, and discrimination. Aliens reach Earth but are perceived as weak and dumb. They're relegated to a slum, treated like cattle instead of the sentient beings they are. The movie reveals the humanity of the aliens as Wikus spends time with them and begins to understand them in a fundamental way that he never could before. These aliens are more advanced than humans but were rejected based just on their appearance.
Watch It.
Review
Not only do aliens exist, they've arrived in South Africa. They're giant insectoid creature with no means to leave the planet. The government has created housing for them that has devolved to a slum over the years. The aliens are relegated to the slum, segregated from the rest of the city. Humans seemingly don't like the aliens, referring derogatorily to them as prawns based on appearance.
The premise is a reference to District 6 in apartheid era South Africa where people of color were forcibly removed from the area. It's quite the commentary. Treating humans like this is inhumane, but this further pushes the issue with a species that is far advanced and would have so much information to provide. Typically in alien movies, they're welcomed though that's usually to obtain the information for self gain. In this movie, the aliens are foreign and cast out.
 |
| Sharlto Copley plays Wikus van de Merwe |
Bureaucrat Wikus (Sharlto Copley) is appointed to lead the relocation of District 9 by his father-in-law who insists it isn't a nepotism promotion, but it definitely is. Wikus seems unequipped for the job as a camera crew follows him into the district to begin the process. This is intercut with interviews that talk about the mistakes Wikus made. He seems clueless, joking about killing alien eggs. He ignores several warning signs painted by the aliens. Does he not understand or does he not want it to impede his camera time? It seems that since the aliens don't speak English humans assume they are dumb which is a very wrong assumption. They're treated like animals because they look like insects.
Wikus encounters an alien substance. Whatever it was, it's transforming him into a prawn. Now he's being tested and prodded with no humanity, treated carelessly just the way he treated the aliens. He's just information to them. His pain and life means nothing to the government if they stand to gain. They want to harvest him. Wikus is learning what it's like to be a prawn, does he realize the irony?
Wikus escapes and the government releases a slanderous story and marks him a fugitive. Wikus forms an unsteady alliance with a prawn, Christopher, that's attempting to return to the home ship. He promises he can return Wikus to his previous form. There's no cost too high for Wikus.
You could view this as just a fun action movie, but it's so much more. It's competent sci-fi that adds political underpinnings and a lot of depth. That helps the movie make a point. Wikus saw the prawns as less than but in becoming one he sees them as an able and comparable species. Wikus resolves to help Christopher reunite with his son, even if it means staying behind when initially nothing was more important than returning to his human form. Wikus realizes how critical it is that Christopher save his people.
Wikus suffered the same insults and abuses as the prawns even though they have superior technology. The problem is that they don't have it on Earth, unable to find a fuel supply to leave the planet. Because of that they're relegated to second class citizens as they look scary and can't effectively fight back. In some sci-fi movies aliens take Earth by storm, the prawns can't. It's a matter of force and will. Humans subjugate the aliens because they can. They plan to harvest Wikus because they can. The superiority of the aliens doesn't matter. That's the point. How can you treat a human so carelessly? How can you relegate an advanced alien species to a dilapidated slum? Even if the excuse is their appearance, humans do this to other humans.
No comments :
Post a Comment