DISTRICT 9

I just got back from the Icelandic premiere of D-9.
After being excited for months and mentally hyping the movie the whole time I was finally there to see it.
How was it?
That good.
That's right, that special level of good that can only be described as that good.
It's bloody amazing, a masterpiece of hyper-realistic Sci-fi brilliance.

Let's get this sucker started...

The plot: An alien spacecraft is one day seen hovering above the city of Johannesburg, after some time has passed curiosity gets the better of man and we break into the ship, discovering millions of sick and malnourished aliens. We, ever-gracious hosts that we are, decide to throw together a 'temporary housing' for the aliens. Soon it becomes apparent that the aliens won't be leaving any time soon and the 'temporary housing' turns into a slum. District 9.
People grow fearful of the alien presence, regarding it with hate and prejudice and as tensions build it is decided to move the aliens from Johannesburg to another district 200 km. outside of the city. In charge of this is MNU (Multinational United) worker Wikus van der Merwe, a mustached, weakly pencil-pusher.

As you can imagine this does not go as smoothly as planned (Try serving an eviction notice to a pissed off 7 ft. tall alien).
During the disaster which is the attempted forcible removal of the aliens Wikus finds a canister containing a strange black liquid and the rest...well, the rest is something you're gonna have to see for yourselves.

This is the greatest sci-fi film in years.
The plot's reflection of apartheid is obvious, yet you don't feel like the director is forcibly deep throating you with its message. It works wonderfully, heart-breaking and difficult to watch yet it doesn't insist itself upon you. It WORKS!
The first 30-40 minutes or so are told in a pseudo-documentary style which gives the rest of the film a realistic kick that really makes it so much more disturbing.
Now, while I've used the terms 'disturbing' and 'heart-breaking' that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining. It's entertaining as HELL, the runtime flew by.
The action sequences have an awesome, gritty look with shakycam a-plenty.
Shaky-cam I normally hate but here - well - it worked. It just did.

The cinematography, as mentioned above, achieves what so many other films try and fail at.
It feels like the camera just happened to be there. Normally when directors try this approach it comes off as a gimmick and you just wish they'd shoot it normally but with District 9 it just feels like they were walking by with some cameras and thought "Woah, there's some crazy shit going down here - LET'S FILM IT!"
Don't get me wrong, it has a cinematic approach to the whole thing, it isn't unwatchable but you still feel like a film crew just happened to be there. A very, very talented film crew.
The lighting is great, it looks natural and gives the whole thing a sense of hyper-realism which, again, really helps get its message across. That this has happened. Take aliens out and put in black people. Take out the word 'prawn' and put in 'nigger' and you have yourself an account of what has actually happened. (Discounting robots and spaceships, naturally)
The performance by lead actor Sharlto Copley is some grade A+ stuff, his emotions and pain seep through the screen. This guy can ACT. Funny thing is, he's a technical amateur. No training, no aspirations to become an actor, he just happened to be cast in this movie.
Holy shit, this man is one to look out for.
The editing is masterful, cutting from angle to angle with fluidity. Even when suddenly you see the film through the lens of a security camera it flows naturally with the rest of the film.
Special effects? Fucking GAH! Those things were real.

All in all, this is one of the greatest films '09 has offered.
It's fun, touching and gripping throwing you between laughter and horrified silence with almost sadistic ease.
Neill Blomkamp is officially on my look-out list, this man is talented.

District 9 is a perfect 10.