Tech Blog

Picking a favourite summer movie this year is a little like choosing which kick to the head you like the best.  In short, it's been a tough summer to love movies in.  There was so much promise at the beginning. Star Trek and Up were perfect examples of what summer films could and should be: big, fun films, with smart and simple storytelling, and with lots of adventure and excitement.  And then it went bad.  Really bad.

If one word could sum up the 2009 summer movie season, it would have to be cowardice.  From the bald offensiveness of T ransformers , to the timid meandering o f Harry Potter , to the unfunny mumbling of Bruno , filmmakers and studios seem to be terrified of taking any risks whatsoever this year, and seem to delight in going out of their way to talk down to us.

The worst part of all this is that we're letting them get away with it.

I'm pleased to report that Neil Blocamp's first foray into feature filmmaking is an instant science fiction classic. It's a thoughtful, thoroughly unique film that I believe people will be talking about for years to come.

The plot: Aliens were stranded over 20 years ago in a spaceship over Johannesburg (see Blocamp's 2006 short film Alive In Joburg for a teaser). They were removed from their ship 3 months after they arrived and were placed in a camp outside the city where they've been stuck ever since.  As you can imagine, the local populace has not been overly welcoming to their new neighbours, and over the past two decades, the ghetto that the aliens have been housed in has slowly deteriorated into a rotting slum.

Wikus Van De Merwe (played by first time actor Sharlto Copley, serving admirably as a poor man's Daniel Day Lewis) is a mid-level bureaucrat charged with managing the relocation of the almost 2 million aliens to a new home, a concentration camp far away from any humans that may be offended by the aliens' presence.  I don't think I'm giving too much away when I tell you that this relocation does not go smoothly.

Using science fiction to expose the real life horror we humans tend to like to inflict upon each other is not a new concept (see B razil, Robocop, Alien Nation ) but it is rare, especially these days.  This is a brutally honest film whose human characters live almost entirely in shades of grey.  There are no heroes here, only people who would cringe in disgust if they saw a fellow human being treated with the same callousness that they casually inflict on their alien captives.  Although the film could never be accused of being subtle, it's a little sad that the film's stark message seems to still be necessary.

Lest you think that the film is a two-hour lecture by Henry Gates, I'll take a second now to tellyou that this is a terrifically violent action movie.  The pace is quick, and the story never gets in the way of the thrills.  The special effects are deceptively simple, but striking.  Blocamp makes a $30 million dollar movie look like it cost twice as much to make.

That's not to say that the movie doesn't have some minor faults: I found the faux-documentary style distracting, if only because Blocamp seemed to lose interest in it 15 minutes into the film.  In addition, there are some continuity snags that threaten to derail the believability of the plot. (Would a mid-level functionary really have access to a high tech bio lab?  Why would the South African government allow the aliens to bring their weapons down from the ship in the first place?)  My only major problem with the film was the unfortunate addition of the Nigerian cannibal gang leader, whose over-acting almost toppled the film with it's camp.

Blocamp has achieved more with his first film than many do in a lifetime.  Although some may find District 9 too over the top and gory to take seriously as a meditation on race relations, it may be the bravest action movie we've seen in years in that it dares to do what so few big budget films do these days: it challenges you to think.

Rating: A