District 9

My Grade:  A+

Put together a director who has never directed a feature, a lead actor who has never acted in a feature, and a writer who has never had a feature script produced and you might think you would get a feature film that is mediocre at best.  Not so when that director is Neill Blomkamp, that actor is Sharlto Copely, and that writer is Terri Tatchell.  Bringing those three together allowed the amazing film District 9 to hit theaters and blow away audiences in 2009.  It certainly helps that they had Peter Jackson as a producer to guide the process, but having this many unknowns and being nominated for four Oscars (Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture) is extraordinarily impressive.  While the film isn't technically an original film (it was an adaptation), it is adapted from Blomkamp's short film titled "Alive In Joburg" so it is sort of an original.

District 9 is not only shockingly good for its extremely modest $30 million budget, but it is one of the best and most original films to hit theaters in many years.  This film does so many good things, but there is only time to talk about a few.  Most notably, the special effects are stunning.  The prawns look perfect and are integrated with the live actors flawlessly.  Also, when the alien weapons essentially make people explode, it is disgustingly real-looking.  The weapons themselves look rather silly, but that is forgivable when you take everything else that is great into account.  It's not surprising that the effects are wonderful because Blomkamp comes from a visual effects background having done 3D Animation for TV shows such as "Stargate SG-1," "Smallville," and others.

The second thing that stands out is the use of so many kinds of footage to tell the story.  Security cam footage, documentary-style footage, news footage, medical research-style footage, and more are all seamlessly integrated into the narrative of this film which gives it a very unique feel.  It starts out feeling like a documentary, but it shifts styles as it goes and becomes a very action packed narrative film.  There's a reason it picked up a Best Editing nomination at the Oscars.

Finally, Sharlto Copley rocks your world as Wikus in District 9.  He goes from simple, nice, realtively weak man that avoids confrontation to cold and heartless leader of the group that sends prawns to an internment camp.  Then, as he slowly becomes a prawn he hits a low point as victim but still treats the prawns as filthy animals.  That is, until he finds out Christopher can help him.  Then he is a little more accepting of prawns, but it's out of selfishness.  He finally becomes Christopher's friend and is willing to sacrifice himself for the race that he once hated.  This is a lot to ask of an actor emotionally but Copley does it flawlessly.  What's even crazier is that his first acting credit on IMDB.com is for the short film that then led to the production of District 9.  Very impressive.

In all of this, the film still has a chance to make some very relevant points about racism, xenophobia, greed, and more.  See this film; you won't regret it!