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District 9 ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Generally when studios release very cryptic trailers to an upcoming film, a spectatorship amounts in trying to interpret the vague parts to something that we know little about but seems jaw-dropping enough to consider despite a prevalent plot. We all love alien films.
Alien invasion motif is nothing new but District 9 fully changed my perspective of what one typically expect from such films and it brought it down to a more understanding level. Rather than humans being the overpowered victims, it’s quite the opposite where the aliens are the non-aggresive refugees and they are being marginalized in Johannesburg, South Africa.
I love that the film doesn’t bore you with the conventional first encounter or arrival of aliens to earth but instead picks up on that “what if” thought that I’ve had in knowing what cultural impact aliens would have if they lived here.
The apartheid metaphor is more than obvious and in the middle of all the guns and explosions, there’s quite some sentimental moments that have you rooting for the other species. Twenty years the aliens have been on earth and what’s interesting is in how humans have already adapted to their complex language, culture and now just look to exploit their weapon technology.
The pseudo documentary style that characterized Cloverfield makes the film so authentic in combination with news footage and security cameras that blend in quite nicely. I really enjoyed District 9 and I anticipate in seeing more of this form of mockumentary in Hollywood.
