2009 science fictionRating: 14/20 (Dylan: 9/20)
Plot: A behemoth hovers over Johannesburg, South Africa. Of all places. A big hulking metallic behemoth! Formerly inhabiting this behemoth are extraterrestrial beings resembling shrimp who the humans will later insensitively call prawns. The prawns have tummy aches, and the nice humans bring them to the ground to live in a ghetto. Elvis sees it all and writes a song. "And the dust flies / On a warm and racist Johannesburg morn / Another ugly monster baby thing is born / In the ghetto. / (background prawns) In the gheeeeeettoooooooo!" Some guy named Wicky or something is put in charge of the relocation of these aliens. The aliens don't like the idea. Some other things happen, and Wicky's arm gets all messed up.
I was really digging the first half of this, the part that is a hilarious mockumentary. Once it turned into a full-fledged science fiction action movie, I started looking at my watch. I've got a watch that can transform into a bitchin' personal nipple tweaker. It doesn't tell the time very well, but it's pretty good at tweaking nipples. So, I began to daydream, wishing that the movie was over so that I could commence nipple tweaking in the privacy of my bathroom. I liked the guy who played Wicky at the beginning. He reminded me of my favorite actor, that one guy, and his awkward and goofy way of communicating with the aliens made me chuckle a few times. Then the real plot started and the movie lost focus. Frustratingly, the style was really inconsistent. You can have a fake documentary or you can have a more traditional third-person story, but you can't have both! After a while, the shaky handheld cameras are in places that they're not supposed to be, as if documentarians would be following this guy through all these treacherous action sequences. The guy with the camera must have been the guy in Man with a Movie Camera. Then, the action is broken by news footage or an interview. Very discombobulating. I liked the acting for the most part. I thought the documentary stuff was very realistic, and the movie looks pretty good with the exception of some jerky CGI, especially with a goofy mechanism during the action-packed climax that made me wonder if I was watching Transformers II instead of a movie that is nominated for Best Picture. The attempt to give this some historical significance by placing this in Johannesburg couldn't quite hide the fact that the story was pretty weak. Really, the historical allusions were too obvious and distracting. That point could have been made a bit more subtly. The CGI Elvis cameo was also completely unnecessary.
I liked this one. It did make the jump from fake real film to very fake action film pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteYes, setting it in South Africa made the took the 'sub' out of subtext, but maybe they felt they had to dumb it down for general viewing.
15/20
Yeah, I didn't mind it at all, but I was disappointed. Disappointed because of what the movie ended up turning into and disappointed because I had pretty high expectations.
ReplyDeleteDumbing down though? When I think of the intelligence (or lack of intelligence) of the typical American, I automatically think of my students. Sure, they're young, but let's face it...they ain't going to get any smarter. Very very very few of them have enough background knowledge to get the historical context no matter how obvious you make it. I had a student once who, on a map of the United States, labeled Indiana as "East Cincinnati" and Ohio as "Cincinnati"...remember, we're talking about a nation whose inhabitants might have trouble naming the vice president. Joe-something, right?
So yeah, let the subtext be subtext and let the (m)asses watching how rad it is when aliens get blowed up.
God, I sound like a dick in a lot of these comments...
In the same way that some movies can be spoiled by a dislike of the lead character (?), the lead in this really made "Distict 9" work for me. I love the complete character arc and evolution he goes through, ending very sweetly and poignantly. His acting is terrific. The film is very imaginative and exciting and even though the metaphor is obvoius (I loved the "takes the sub out of subtext" comment), it is still a truism about racism and greed.
ReplyDeleteI was never bothered by the transition between styles, and the action was well filmed. I also thought the open ending was very interesting (man really does deserve to get his ass kicked by aliens). Compared to the average action or sci-fi flick, "District 9" is superior in almost every way and deserves a 16.
I agree about the main character. He is likable, and the guy who plays him does really well with what seems to me to be a tricky role.
ReplyDeleteI thought the action stuff was silly though. I slapped my forehead when the guy got inside that robot thing and started jerking around.