By Matt Maul
I can understand why for some the “shockumentary” approach used in The Blair Witch Project, Diary of the Dead, Cloverfield, and Quarantine has become tired. But I must confess that I haven’t yet gotten bored with it. Making excellent use of the faux documentary style, District 9’s first forty minutes are strong and suggest that its storyline concerning maltreated alien refugees—a staple Star Trek plot—will be used as an intelligent allegory to explore bureaucratic ineptitude, greed (both corporate and individual) and xenophobia. However, try as it might, the film just can’t find a way to keep all of those plates spinning at once and descends into the realm of garden variety action yarns.
District 9 is an expanded version of Blomkamp’s 2005 short film Alive in Joburg (see below) about a relocation camp set up in Johannesburg to house the alien inhabitants from a number of spacecraft which mysteriously appear over the city. The segregated nature and squalid condition of the camps present a clear metaphor for South Africa’s apartheid system. While the new version only shows one immense ship, it boasts impressive looking CGI aliens as well as a broader, more multifaceted view of the of the camp itself, the inhabitants, the people who run it, and the subcultures springing up around it. As a result, District 9 starts strongly down a path which indicates that it will tackle broader thematic issues.
Presented in a series of news clips and talking head interviews, the film recounts the arrival of a huge alien craft that hovers over Johannesburg some twenty years previously. Watching it float there for three years without providing a single clue as to where it came from or why it's here, world authorities impatiently take matters into their own hands. Flying up in helicopters, they cut their way into the ship. Once inside, large numbers of dead and dying alien passengers are discovered. The passengers are ferried down to earth and placed in a relocation camp named “District 9” that consists of a collection of Spartan metal huts. In the ensuing two decades, what started out as a “humanitarian” effort degenerates into an oppressive situation for the aliens (referred to as “prawns”) who become the impoverished victims of a sadistic, quasi-military police force, opportunistic Nigerian thugs, a covetous corporate contractor, and resentful local citizens.Wikus Van De Merwe is a mid-level executive for Multi-National United (MNU), a private company that wins a Haliburton-like contract to manage the alien settlement camps. He is promoted to supervise the displacement of prawns from a run-down District 9 into the supposedly newer, more hospitable District 10. Van De Merwe gets this plumb assignment because his father-in-law, Piet Smit (Louis Minnaar) is the company head of MNU. However, interviewee testimony makes it clear at the outset that Van De Merwe is destined to suffer a failure of tragic proportions both personally and professionally.
In early scenes, the bumbling Van De Merwe comes across like a European Michael Scott as he tries to coordinate his resources. The first step in the relocation program is pure red tape and involves the process of gathering sign offs or “scrolls” from each prawn indicting their acknowledgment of the move. Mismanagement abounds as epitomized by a shortage of flack vests that, to the humorous consternation of Van De Merwe's assistant, prevents each team member from entering the camp properly equipped.
That the best interest of the aliens are clearly not in anyone’s mind is firmly established when, upon finding a nest of alien eggs, Van De Merwe laughingly demonstrates an "abortion" for the camera by disconnecting prawn larvae from their food source before ordering the hut immolated by flame throwers. Blomkamp's awareness of his audience is evidenced by Van De Merwe’s vivid description comparing the sound of the burning eggs to popcorn popping (a bag of which many theatergoers surely have on their laps at the time).For me, the movie begins its turn for the worse when Van De Merwe sprays himself with a strange black liquid while confiscating an unfamiliar tube-shaped alien device. Here Blomkamp diverges from the established documentary style and uses more traditional methods of exposition to provide a rudimentary explanation for the prawn device. An important alien character, curiously referred to as “Christopher Johnson,” and his young offspring are also introduced.
I get the impression that Blomkamp simply decided that there was no way to tell all of District 9's story in a straight documentary format. The shift in approach is disappointing enough. However, that disappointment is compounded for me by the change in tone presented in these traditionally shot scenes. The alien dialog, shown in subtitles, is pedestrian at best and contains lines approaching banality such as "This ruins twenty year's worth of work." I realize that Bloomkamp is establishing what he thinks are essential story points. But I felt that instead of letting the puzzle pieces organically reveal themselves, the director simply takes an easy shortcut.
Also, Johnson’s offspring is depicted as precocious and cute. He (I assume it’s a he) plays with “fun,” high-tech gadgets that I’d expect to see in sci-fi outings aimed at children, not an “R” rated one. Furthermore, Blomkamp borrows, sometimes blatantly, from other sci-fi action films (The Fly, Alien, The Terminator, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk) and shoe-horns them, with varying degrees of success, into District 9.
After the effects of the black liquid start to alter Van De Merwe’s DNA, MNU’s hidden agenda is revealed. Instead of simply making a very lucrative living off his District 10 contract, Smit also wants to profit from the commercialization of captured alien weaponry. This story element is not only stale (for instance, it shows up in EVERY Alien movie), but creates a rather large plot hole. Because of their sophisticated alien technology, only a prawn can fire a prawn weapon. Try as they might, MNU just can’t get the damn things to work. However, we never see the subjugated prawns taking up arms against their brutal oppressors. As characterized, the aliens are certainly feisty enough. And they clearly have advanced weaponry at their disposal. Yet, incredulously, no resistance movement ever seems to materialize.
Van De Merwe’s exposure to the DNA altering substance is a boon to Smit’s plans. His willingness to literally eviscerate the love of his daughter’s life for monetary gain turns Smit into a stock two-dimensional villain. Another hackneyed character is the shaven head mercenary for MNU who often wastes valuable killing opportunities “dialoguing” with his targets. He's also always one step ahead of any personal danger so that the threat his character represents can be conveniently maintained. Throwing in some Nigerian warlords with a taste for prawn flesh and a full body alien battle suit, Bloomkamp ends up with something that's closer to a graphic novel than social commentary.Thus, District 9, which had initially engaged me as a unique and entertaining sci-fi vehicle, morphs into a standard (albeit entertaining) chase thriller à la The Fugitive with the Van De Merwe character functioning as a sort of cross between the innocent Dr. Kimball and the "one-armed man." Like the “halo” comment mentioned above, this last reference is something that I also wonder if Bloomkamp wasn’t deliberately aware of.
Alive in Joburg
Matt Maul is author of the blog Maul of America.
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21 comments:
Like you, I really enjoyed the documentary style filming for the first part of the movie, and when the film switched to the traditional view I was a little disappointed. However, the story was compelling enough to keep me interested, and my emotions for the prawns welfare were certainly piqued. By the end, I really enjoyed District 9 and felt that it was quite successful in the execution of plot, with only a few minor logic failures/lack of explanations.
Agreed on all counts, Matt. For the first forty minutes, DISTRICT 9 was perhaps my favorite of these various faux-documentary movies. It's a great setup and a fresh way of looking at what you aptly call the "staple Star Wars plot".
--- However, try as it might, the film just can’t find a way to keep all of those plates spinning at once and descends into the realm of garden variety action yarns. ---
Sadly, the whole movie falls apart for me here. It remains very capably directed and energetic, but not original.
I know many people love the movie and speak of it in the same reverential tones they gave THE MATRIX and, say, TERMINATOR 2. But when DISTRICT 9 stumbles, it does so pretty unforgivably -- it could have been a great movie, a great social satire, a great bit of science fiction. Instead, it turns into silly spy games.
But I still think Blomkamp is a talent to watch and the standards remain wonderfully high at WETA Workshop.
Well done, Matt --
JK
Oh, thank God. It was starting to look like I was the only one for whom the exhilaration of the first 30-40 minutes just didn't carry the rest of the picture. I lasted a little bit longer, as I found MNU's experiments and almost-operation on Wikus to be pretty arresting stuff, but by the time the bald-headed soldier guy (man, I still can't believe they used that character) was assigned the task of hunting down Wikus, the film totally lost me.
Except for the occasional exploded human or, better yet, pig-as-weapon. Though the narrative was a little too familiar to be consistently entertaining, and his style derived mostly from first-person-shooters (which actually explains the pig concept), Blomkamp found some damn interesting ways to kill people.
Such interesting look into racism, slavery and the workings of the government all mashed into one...I definitely recommend this movie..!!
I'd pretty much have to agree with the review, Matt. Curious though that no one, positive or negative, seems to recall Alien Nation. It was a movie and a short-lived TV series covering similar territory, yet it's so obscure (and unmemorable) that it has slipped from the critical radar.
Still, as derivative as much of the movie is and as scattershot as much of the direction is, I enjoyed the movie for the action chase it devolves into. It's rare to see a film that so obviously panders to your standard FPS fan but pulls it off so well and hey, they even (clumsily) inserted a mech gun platform into the plotting. Michael Bay, eat your heart out.
Anyway, District 9 beats the hell out of the standard Summer fare, even if that isn't saying much.
Anyway, District 9 beats the hell out of the standard Summer fare, even if that isn't saying much.
I don't think so. Hell, I enjoyed "G.I. JOE" more than I did this film. And I find that rather sad, considering that I had such high hopes for "DISTRICT 9". This movie had great potential, but in the end, I think that Blomkamp shot himself in the foot. Even his attempt to use the aliens' situation as an allegory against the apartheid system that had been a part of South African for so long, seemed ruined by the director's portrayal of the Nigerians.
The reason why the prawns are so stupid and/or passive is because the elites of their society have died off, and without somebody telling them what to do, they're unable to really figure out what to do.
The director explains this in an interview with the AV Club:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/district-9-director-neill-blomkamp,31606/
--The idea is that—this gets really geeky and insane, but going back to their hive-structure thing—their queen has died, and the elite population of their society has died, which are really the decision-makers. You’re left with a bunch of drones that aren’t directed on their own goal-setting basis. I like the idea that after 20 or 30 years, that their ESP kind of hive-mind will begin to almost elect members of its population to start—their fundamental brain architecture could actually change, and they start forming leadership roles.--
-Darren MacLennan
I am most interested in the way the Nigerians have been portrayed in the film. It doesn't open here till October, so I guess I'll have to wait and see.
I enjoyed the review, Matt. Great job, as always.
The reason why the prawns are so stupid and/or passive is because the elites of their society have died off, and without somebody telling them what to do, they're unable to really figure out what to do.
What scene established this in the film? And what are you trying to say? Only the elite of any group or species are intelligent and bold?
There was a mention of the elites/Queen/whoever dying at the very beginning, around the time they recount busting into the ship after three months of it just hanging there. Which also explains why we never find out why the aliens came to Earth in the first place. It doesn't explain why, apparently, no one ever asked them (unless, in turn, I missed that part).
Thanks Jeremiah/Ali
Darren/Rush/Scott,
Not to beat it to death, but having read the Blomkamp interview, I have no problem with the concept of a collectively dormant hive mentality contributing to the prawn's subjugation. Yet, I still maintain that based on what was shown, it’s an element lost deeeeeply in the back-story. And even if it had occurred to me early on, I would have jettisoned that idea once I saw Christopher Johnson and his offspring. These characters are depicted as clever and resourceful prawns without the slighted suggestion that they’re atypical.
The matter could have been more definitively established through one of the talking heads (I’d say the angry reporter). Of course, this goes against Blomkamp's desire not to “spoon-feed” the audience (even though the conversation between Johnson and the other prawn while making the device is basically an info dump).
I thought this was a great review - even though most of your points never even occurred to me as I was watching it. Then again I'm normally NOT into alien movies at all, which is probably why. Anyway, despite the valid points you bring up, I still thought the film was fantastic. Hell, it kept my attention the whole way through - and that's saying a lot!
I had really similar responses to this movie and it's good to see an even-handed response to a movie that if you don't like, you're somehow viewed as dim or not into having "fun".
Re: Nigerians
I think one of the interesting things about the film--though this point's negated by other things, see next para.--is the sense that "victims" don't relate to other "victims" (mind the quotes please); this point conflicts with the idea that the oppressed can be lumped in together. Though I sense this is a byproduct of the plot and not a comment by the director?
It's also negated--and moves the film into the uncomfortable (the bad kind)--when the premise is considered. You don't need a metaphor for immigration or Apartheid because blam! it's right there...in South Africa (and everywhere). I think setting the movie where it does and playing it out as it does, it actually shifts people's attention away from the history it's trying to discuss. In that sense, it's a poor metaphor.
Excellent review, I enjoyed the movie more but you nicely articulate some problems I had with it.
But, seriously: "something that's closer to a graphic novel than social commentary"? Are you saying a graphic novel can't be socially relevant?
In human society, the bold and ingenious need not be elite, but it was pretty clear to me that "Prawn" DNA leaves only a few elite in possession of the intelligence needed to make logical decisions and operate their technology.
That "Christopher Johnson" is one of the elites is constantly reinforced throughout the film, most convincingly by the fact that the command module is under his house. His plans for rehabilitating his people are not made clear (and they need not be), but I think that he knew his people would not survive an all out fight against humanity, and that operating in secret until he could escape to the mothership was the best course of action for everyone.
That being said, the whole FPS thing at the end didn't work for me. Instead of relying on one mercenary battalion, why wouldn't MNU leverage its political clout to get the vaunted South African Army (and Airforce) into the fight? Or was humanity afraid that overt violence against the inhabitants of District 9 would warrant retaliation from the alien homeworld?
Thanks Susan and Brandon...I can certainly understand why people can enjoy this movie. It is entertaining. Heck, I liked the last Rambo flick (probably because going in, I expected it to suck) and it certainly wasn’t a “serious” war film.
Sam Humphries...But, seriously: "something that's closer to a graphic novel than social commentary"? Are you saying a graphic novel can't be socially relevant?
Sigh. You have a point. Though I'm not particularly a fan of graphic novels per se, it wasn't fair of me to suggest that they and social commentary are mutually exclusive. My bad.
Zachary...but it was pretty clear to me that "Prawn" DNA leaves only a few elite in possession of the intelligence needed to make logical decisions and operate their technology.
I respectfully disagree. As I said, I think what Blomkamp does and doesn't reveal regarding the nature of the prawns creates a level of understandable confusion for the viewer. Even Roger Ebert, in his review, thought it "curious" that the prawn weapons "aren’t used to much effect by the aliens in their own defense." Not that Ebert's opinion proves anything one way or the other. I think it just demonstrates shortcomings on the director's part in how he chose to present information to the audience.
SPOILER...Also, on an unrelated point, as depicted in the film, Johnson has a plan changing epiphany resulting in his quest to save the prawns only AFTER seeing the atrocities going on at the MNU lab. It struck me that the level of prawn mistreatment at the hands of the humans Johnson was already aware of in District 9 (such as the routine abortion protocols and summary executions) should have been enough for him to feel this way already.
Most equitable of you to say so Matt. For what it's worth, comparison aside, I think your point in that sentence was well reasoned.
If you'd ever like some graphic novel recommendations, just holler.
Actually, Matt, you're quite right. He only decided to fly home after seeing the lab.
What was his original plan, then?
I believe, his original plan was to get into the mothership, heal Wikus, and then fly home at a normal rate.
After the lab, I believe his new plan was to fly home very fast, and return to Earth with reinforcements (?) three years later.
He didn't have enough "juice" to fly home very fast AND heal Wikus. The lab made the trip more urgent.
However, I'm not entirely clear on this.
Sam...I believe, his original plan was to get into the mothership, heal Wikus, and then fly home at a normal rate....
If Johnson is to be believed (and based on the reaction shots, I assume that he is) that was his plan.
D-9 definitely has a lot going for it -- character development, great acting a at least a few people, awesome alien weapons; it felt a bit preachy at times at different times though
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