District 9
If you’re like me, you come out of most movies with a feeling of deja-vu. That somehow, I’ve seen this movie before, only with different characters and thinly-guised specifics. This wasn’t one of those movies, and I believe it is truly original.
This film will have you thinking “WTF?” for roughly the first 45 minutes. It’s shot in documentary-style, complete with news footage and interviews. It’s hard to feign disbelief for a newscast about aliens, but somehow, it managed to come across as authentic. Replace the aliens with any ethnic group and you can easily picture an actual CNN breaking-news broadcast.
It’s as much a parody of human behavior and racism as it is a comedy, sci-fi and action flick. The best way I could recreate this by combining the DNA of previous movies would be to take a less funny Borat, throw him into Predator (the 80s Arnold flick) and film it in the style of Children of Men.
I would say there is far more psychology/philosophy in this movie than I could grasp in one viewing. The special effects are fantastic, and there are a multitude of disturbing and disgusting moments related to catfood and self-amputation. I felt it dragged on a little, but this movie isn’t about getting to the point quickly or wrapping things up in a nice little package.
While certainly not the feel-good movie of the year, if you are looking to see something original with insights into the less-savoury side of the human-condition, I would recommend giving District 9 a go.