Movie Review: District 9

This is a good one! It's also pretty bizarre, and not just because there's a dude turning into fish-(super)man.

It's all in the way it starts. "Looky here! I am an out-and-proud in-your-face allegory! When I say 'alien refugee in the ghetto' you see an outer-space fishy man, but you know - oh yes, you KNOW - that what I'm really talking about is HUMAN refugee in the ghetto! Like someone from Sudan, or Iraqi Kurdistan, or Gaza, or even like a Mexican in America!"

Very clear, very upfront. Thus, you gets the impression that the next couple of hours are going to either be 1) an all-out liberal attack on American foreign dealings 2) a surprisingly nuanced commentary on the same subject or 3) An arty exposition of South African apartheid which will probably fly right over your head.

But then suddenly the movie becomes a straight-up sci-fi/action/suspense smashup. And that all plays out in none-too-unpredictable a way. And then we're briefly reminded of the original allegorical premise. And that's it. Whoa.

To be fair, District 9 maintains a consistent anti-xenophobia, pro-human rights stance throughout. But the main plot works entirely apart from all that. The realism of the Johannesburg setting and the characterization of the aliens as refugee-types definitely makes the story more engaging, but we would expect the initial allegory to manifest itself in the plot, and this doesn't happen.

So, the movie's weird. It's some of one thing, some of another, and together these things are very entertaining...but there's little lasting impact. I don't come away feeling any different about the politics of immigration and refugees and exploitation and Blackwater (=MNU?).

Oh. Wait. This thing is South African, through and through. Gah. So I guess all of these American-angled musings are, at best, invented interpretations. Darn. And Mendocino Talon True Style Barley Wine Ale (this is better) has left me in no condition to go back and reapproach this monster from a more proper angle. Well, at least I anticipated it with option 3 above. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow with something unstupid to say.

Wow. I guess District 9 gave this reviewer a whuppin'. Several stars for that.

***