After a fairly disappointing run of summer blockbusters, there's been a lot of hype surrounding District 9. Already touted as the 'sleeper blockbuster of the summer' before it has even been released, this Peter Jackson produced, WETA involved sci-fi-action-thriller came to fruition after production on the live-action version of Xbox hit Halo stalled. Budgeted at the modest sum of $30 million, District 9 has the honour of being the first large-scale action movie filmed on location in Johannesburg as well as receiving input from Peter Jackson - himself a canny genre-director before he reached Oscar success in the LOTR trilogy.
District 9 sees a large group of malnourished alien refugees descend on Johnannesburg seeking sanctuary. Rather than assimilate the aliens into modern society, the South African government force work out more ever ingenious ways to exploit the aliens' advanced technology while containing them in an impoverished slum. Racial tensions are stoked by native Afrikaans who see the nearby intrusion as a threat to their indigenous way of life. Whilst on a covert mission to quietly relocate the aliens from District 9 to a purpose-built concentration camp, a na?ve supervisor working for a shady private contractor becomes infected by a strange alien fluid which forces events to quickly spiral out of control.
Director Neill Blomkamp, heavily draws upon his own experiences of growing up during apartheid. He nimbly navigates between the various plot strands which results in a sci-fi film that's not just a feast for the ears and eyes, but also for the brain and heart. Although the (albeit) heavy-handed social commentary does occasionally get swallowed up within the tongue-in-cheek humour, there's more than enough here to elevate it above the bog-standard sci-fi title.
A sci-fi film wouldn't be a sci-fi film without set-pieces and here WETA have pulled out all the stops to stretch every last penny of the relatively small budget . As you would expect of the team behind LOTR's groundbreaking special effects, District 9 looks fantastic visually: the special effects are large-scale, complex, seamless and represent a subtle, but noticeable leap forward for CGI. Each action set-piece sizzles and pops with cartoonish video-game weaponry, blood soaked bodies and gigantic robot suits. It all culminates in a frenetic twenty-minute action sequence that will be hard to beat in '09. It's a race against the clock finale that's so well-executed it propels this small film into the stratosphere.
It's an expertly put together piece of sci-fi that's bursting at the seams with confidence and invention. More than just a fantastically grotesque homage to low-budget off-kilter sci-fi, District 9 takes influence from Enemy Mine, Starship Troopers, Aliens and Alien Nation and puts it all in a turbo-charged blender,. Along with Star Trek, District 9 is a clear contender for sci-fi film of the year.
Jonny Dawson
