Movie of the Month: District 9
Science fiction movies can often be hit or miss. The problem is that many of them rely on the coolness factor of spaceships, lasers, and explosions to drive the story, and you end up with something pretty and fun to watch but cheesy or lacking in depth. The best of these movies often have a bit of social criticism in them, but that doesn’t necessarily make the movie worthwhile. This summer we’ve seen several sci fi movies released, each with a fairly great deal of success. Transformers 2 was fun to watch but fantastically cheesy, and ultimately unsatisfying. I’m going to have to assume that GI Joe is similar based on reviews and the trailers. Harry Potter was good, but to me it had the flow of a tv movie, which is not surprising seeing that the director had previously only directed for the small screen. Wolverine was also good, but nothing to get too excited about. The best of these summer blockbusters was probably Star Trek, which won over many star trek scoffers.
Not a bad summer of blockbuster sci fi movies.
HOWEVER…
With a budget of about $30 mil, which is miniscule compared to the ones listed above, District 9 is easily the best of the group.
District 9
Produced by Peter Jackson, District 9 was directed by Neill Blomkamp, who was to direct that Halo movie that was buried under legal mumbo-jumbo. Not only is this movie fun to watch (it definitely doesn’t lack explosions), but it also has a creative and compelling storyline, with just enough social criticism mixed in. The acting and CGI are phenomenal, and the characters are dynamic, making it easy to connect and empathize with them. I can’t wait to see what Blomkamp does next…
