Sunday, August 23, 2009
Special Movie Edition: District 9
This was a pretty good film. It was a little slow in the beginning but it picked up and I found myself worried and excited. I also found myself not really liking the main character, Wikus. He was spineless and selfish. Too things I dislike in a hero. He finally got his act together and began using his newly acquired alien abilities to his advantage. Why he did use the alien technology before this I don't know. Also, I find it hard to really like a character who is basically a bigoted social worker. He calls the aliens "prawns" which is a derogatory term for them and he treats them as if they are unintelligent. They arrived in a fucking space ship you ignorant asshole. Overall, I felt the only decent characters in the movie were the Aliens Christopher Johnson and his son. They were the only ones with honor and a sense of whats best for the greater good. When Christopher tells Wikus he will return to him in three years with a cure for his genetic mutation I said "fuck that, Christopher." Wikus abandoned you twice during the movie. At the end he finally did the honorable thing which was sacrifice his own well being for Christopher to get to the mother ship and go home. But at the same time, "too little, too late." I would have enjoyed having Christopher come back for Wikus if Wikus, from day one had been a decent human being.
I get that the film is based on true events that took place in Johannesburg where District 6 was declared an "all white zone" and the government moved a huge number of black citizens to a location outside of the city. So I understand that this is like a social commentary on that, but still. I think it says something when the only decent people who deserve to live are the aliens.
What about your thoughts?