It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me or my tastes that I loved this film. Low budget Sci-Fi is a tricky thing, but to my delight (and the delight of many others), there’s been a resurgence of well crafted, thoughtful, and spectacularly done films that are slowly taking the genre away from the long-winded, bloated, effects orgies of the past decade. It’s humorous (and almost criminal, in a way) that we have seen amazing and giant leaps in the technology we use to tell stories on film, yet so many just… miss the mark entirely. That some of these films spend what equals the gross national product of some of the less fortunate countries of the world and fail so miserably at accomplishing anything other than showing giant robot nuts in all of their crass glory is a shame. That some of these films do so well (most of the time) is damn near unforgivable.
What District 9 has done is set the bar so ridiculously high for Science Fiction films in general, that it is my fervent hope to see a shift in the belief that films need to have budgets in the hundreds of millions to tell a compelling story. What’s been proven, and not just with District 9, is that this is absolutely not the case. That good stories tell themselves. It’s up to the writers and filmmakers to build a world in which the story is the basis for everything going on around it, effects and all. Not the other way around, as has been the predominant mindset of the past 15 years or so.
It’s evident at this point that there is something fantastic happening with District 9, since I haven’t even touched on the film itself. I haven’t talked about the fact that every penny spent on the film is evident on the screen. That, though there are some pretty large leaps in logic and more questions than answers, District 9 delivers on so many levels as to render any minor complaints pointless. And let’s be honest, any good Sci-Fi film requires you to check your disbelief at the door. And it definitely wants you to ask questions. Lots of questions. This film does absolutely nothing to spoon feed you the story. It moves at a brisk pace, and you’re expected to move right along with it. Yes, the social commentary is glaringly obvious - but that’s simply a facet of well told Science Fiction stories.
There’s a fascinating magic trick that this film accomplishes that you don’t really understand until well after you’ve left the theater and had a chance to recount what exactly you just saw. Even then, you’re still left wondering if you really see things the way the film wants you to. To me, that’s the hallmark of something remarkable. Any film that requires you to see it multiple times, that elicits such a critical, thought provoking response, that’s a film worth paying attention to.
*My apologies to those who want to know specifics regarding the film. The trailers and
IMDB and what I’ve put together below can fill you in on some of the details. This film teases the viewer in a way that not really knowing much about the story is the best way to go in to it. It encourages a more natural response, a more visceral reaction.*
I’ve rounded up a few of the reviews I found most enlightening, as I’m still a novice at this whole critical analysis bit. So take a look at these and plan a trip to the theater as soon as you can.
Massawyrm @ Ain't It Cool NewsHarry @ Ain't It Cool NewsDevin @ CHUDWritten and Posted By: Jared Bowers
EMAIL ME YOUR THOUGHTS at mynameisidare@hotmail.com,
or find me on Facebook at facebook.com/jaredisnothere
Here's a smaller film getting a slightly wider release this week. I'll hopefully be able to catch it some time in the next week so I can get my thoughts out to you with the quickness. In the meantime, check out what this is all about (from the film's IMDB):
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