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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

District 9

I missed this one when it was in the theaters (actually, with the exception of Avatar, I miss most of them) and it finally made its way to the top of my Neflix list.

If you are a scifi fan, this is worth watching. First half of the movie blurs the lines between feeling like a documentary covering the eviction of the aliens from a containment camp called "District 9" and a movie. The shift to a movie is subtly done and unless you are paying attention, you won't really notice it. We follow Wikus, assigned the impossible and stupid task of gathering the "prawns" signatures to allow the "legal" deportation of the aliens to an alternative camp away from Johannesburg.

From the beginning, things go terribly wrong and Wikus finds himself unexpectedly mutating into one of the Prawns. Wikus goes from being a somewhat respected bureaucrat to a man on the run. The military and the scientists want nothing more than to get a hold of his DNA, for it is only a living Prawn that can operate the alien technology. And Wikus is now both man and alien offering the military a huge advantage in the fight against the aliens.

Through Wikus's plight and flight we get a look at the Prawns themselves and find that they are no more happy to be stuck in the horrid conditions than the population of Johannesburg is to have them there. Encounters between humans and aliens invariably ends up being bloody.

This is not a movie for the squeamish. Significant dismemberment, exploding bodies, rendering of limbs and blood splatting everywhere. Not to overlook one man turning into a alien. Oddly it didn't bother me (unlike Gladiator or Braveheart - ugh). The CGI effects enhanced the difference between aliens and humans without being overblown.

Again, if you like science fiction or action style films, I recommend this film.

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