A few years back Peter Jackson was producing a film based on the enormously popular Halo video game franchise. Due to studio ineptitude the project completely collapsed five months into pre-production. Jackson then handed the film's director, Neil Blomkamp, $30 million dollars and told him to go make any film he wanted. Blomkamp then set out to make an allegorical movie about his childhood, spent in Apartheid South Africa.HOLY CRAP! Blomkamp took that $30million dollars, which in Hollywood is pocket change-- most directors can't put together a romantic comedy for twice that amount-- and made a kick-ass sci-fi flick with special effects that look better than most films with eight times it's budget.
District 9 is awesome on several levels. As an allegory, it made me realize how much we, the human race, really suck at treating each other. Towards the end of the film I found myself being embarrassed to be a human being, because our capacity for fear and hatred of anything that we don't understand seems to know no bounds.
The aliens, spaceship and weaponry all look exceptionally cool, and there are plenty of exploding heads and limbs ripped off. Awesome. Oh, and a really cute alien toddler. Who doesn't like adorable alien children?
Newcomer Sharlto Copley probably should've gotten an Oscar nod, but didn't.
Sorry, Sharlto!
I can't believe that there are TWO movies with aliens in them that are nominated for best picture this year. This movie doesn't stand a chance of winning the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture, because that other movie with aliens has grossed approximately twelve-octillion dollars world-wide.
4 / 5 on the Awesome Meter
I'm still dying to see this one. All apologies for confusing South Africa with Austrailia when writing about it before. I've got to stop smoking crack in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to the theater to see it, but my friend talked me into Julie & Julia. I could hear the sound of explosions leaking in from the theater next door and was envious of its audience.