Cast:
Sharlto Copley (Wikus van de Merwe), Jason Cope (Christopher Johnson / Grey Bradnam / Speaking Alien Voices / Cameraman Trent), David James (Colonel Koobus Venter), Vanessa Haywood (Tania Smit-van de Merwe), Mandla Gaduka (Fundiswa Mhlanga), Eugene Wanangwa Khumbanyiwa (Obesandjo), Louis Minnaar (Piet Smit), Kenneth Nkosi (Thomas), William Allen Young (Dirk Michaels), Nathalie Boltt (Sarah Livingstone), and Sylvaine Strike (Katrina McKenzie) Directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Review:
"I don't know whether the film has that feeling or not for the audience, but I wanted it to have that harsh 1980s kind of vibe—I didn't want it to feel glossy and slick."
The important thing to say about this film by Neill Blomkamp is that it was his very first one. He was born in Johannesburg in South Africa, and his studies at Redhill High School in the city led him to meet Sharlto Copley (who had graduated from there a few years earlier). Blomkamp had a passion for 3D animation and design from a young age, and he struck a deal with Copley to do 3D work for pitches on projects for Copley's production company; Blomkamp moved to Vancouver to study at Vancouver Film School at the age of 18. Beginning in the late 1990s, he did a variety of animation work for various television shows and films, such as lead 3D animator for 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001). He also shot commercial work and shorts when not working, and it was a reel of his work that got the attention of Peter Jackson. One of those shorts was Alive in Joburg, which was a mockumentary short about aliens marooned in Johannesburg (Blomkamp asked questions to black South Africans about how they felt about Nigerians and Zimbabweans, which is where the idea came from about what would happen if there were aliens living in South Africa). Jackson soon tapped Blomkamp to try and direct a film adaptation of the Halo video game series; the result was nothing short of failure, but Jackson was willing to work with Blomkamp on something else in mind, with Jackson serving as producer. Blomkamp wrote the film with his production partner and wife Terri Tatchell. Since the release of this film nearly fifteen years ago in August 2009, Blomkamp has directed three further films with Elysium (2013), Chappie (2015), and Demonic (2021).
The film takes inspiration from "District Six", an actual residential area in South Africa (specifically Cape Town), which had seen thousands of people be forcibly removed beginning in 1966 during the apartheid era of the country to make way for white people (this was a country that had three different Group Areas Acts that dealt with racial groups living in certain places only); a museum resides in the area, along with a plaque. The film even had shooting done in an area that just saw people moved from an area of impoverished housing (Chiawelo, in Johannesburg). As such, Blomkamp has made a film that shows the effects of social engineering within communities that basically turns into hell. In that sense, one could argue it is not only a science fiction action film but also a horror feature. After all, there is a considerable body-count that comes from the consequences of trying to segregate others. Xenophobia action films that also feature a mechanized battle suit and booming alien weapons make for a neat combination. The aliens in the film remind one of crickets, and the phrase used to refer to them is "prawn". Granted, prawns are actually small species of sea creatures, but the Parktown prawn (also known as the African king cricket or tusked king cricket) is a species of cricket that is generally held in low regard in Africa. Of course, not everyone was big on this film. Did you know Nigeria banned the film? Apparently they took it really seriously that Nigerians would eat aliens, proving that there are people easily irritated by any sort of slight anywhere (this also works for so-called most "white savior" articles). Simply put: it's a movie about seeing just how folks all around the world could unite in their hatred of the other and the result of when push comes to shove.
For the "documentary" sequences, Copley (who had never acted in a professional feature before) ad-libbed all of his lines, and Cope did improvisation as well, specifically with the eviction sequences. Copley does well within the reaches of the performance requires, which desires someone who can pull off a growing sense of humanity even when he starts to look less like it. He has the timing to pull it off, endearing in both sides that come from this personality, whether that is the bumbling bureaucrat or the frenzied creature on the run. Cope accompanies him with varying levels of performance that is meant to strike a different chord from the usual alien visitor on the run type, which works to the idea of the film of portraying creatures that are murky in their own motivations (i.e. they seem both humane and disgusting). Grimy aliens and slimier humans is a worthy path to see in a film, you know. James and Khumbanyiwa both play the dark side of absolute belief in what they want (which involve the creatures, obviously), which makes their eventual fate all the most satisfying since they make quality adversaries. The rest of the cast is fine, even if they come and go within the bits and pieces of "found footage", but one is here for the 112-minute runtime in seeing quality CG effects go together with a fairly compelling story. The third act involving a round of shoot-out action is probably the most standard part of the film, but it is always nice to see visualized pushback within an inevitable closing point for a sci-fi film (in other words, action doesn't stifle my excitement for material as long as it is done right, as opposed to just being a bland puddle). A sequel has been teased for years (the ending of the film sort of teases an idea or two, in a messy sort of sense) but time will tell if there is a return to a district of creatures of aliens and humans that may be more alike than they believe. As a whole, it is a worthy first start for its director in terms of quality storytelling filled with wrenching imagination that is executed with most of the right beats for entertainment.
Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.
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