District 9, arguably one of the best sci-fi movies of our times, was recognized this year for that with a Best Picture nomination, and for good reason. It is one of the most outstanding achievements in cinema that I have ever seen. It takes the concept of aliens coming to Earth and treats it very realistically, drawing on themes and parallels to South Africa's Apartheid issues. We have Neill Blomkamp (and his writing partner Terri Tatchell) to thank for all of the sheer brilliance empowered here in a directorial debut worth noting with the most giant of Post-its. Stick that note where ever you can, and remember his name.
The story revolves around an alien mothership stranded over Johannesburg, South Africa. It seems that the aliens aboard are refugees from their planet, and cannot even repair their broken down ship. The government sequesters them, creating like a slum under their huge ship. The story really kicks into gear when an agent in charge of relocating the aliens gets infected by something that is changing him into one of them, and because of that he begins to see things through their eyes.
It's a simple story that we've seen many times before, including the recent blockbuster Avatar, but D9 takes things to another level all together. The aforementioned realism is such a huge factor, and the effects (special, visual, and sound) are as perfect as you can get, but what really makes this film shine is the performance of Sharlto Copley as the government agent who becomes enlightened to the aliens' plights. He is as natural as you can get, which makes his situation even more believable. The intricacies of his character and the performance of it are a true marriage of writing and acting. You really feel for Copley's character, but also revile him. It's quite impressive. What also stands apart is the acting of the CGI aliens, which is as good as it gets. Can a CGI character receive an Academy Award acting nom? If great sci-fi movies like this keep pushing the envelope, it's going to be a viable question in the near future.
Overall, this is a fanastic movie, and one of last year's best. If you haven't seen it yet, make it a priority. Here's the Netflix link.
other than 1 or 2 extremely huge plot holes i enjoyed this movie a lot. (one being, why would the government let any of the alien weapons stay in district 9...when they took them off their ship, they could have confiscated them all). also the hero was a complete dick to everyone... i liked that
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