In trying to start this movie with a quick summary, I find that I have trouble doing so. Not that the plot is convoluted or incomprehensible (Dude must win over girl while helping astronaut get back to ship. There, twelve words.) but that there is a lot of trope surrounding it and trying too hard to be funny that it almost succeeds in distracting from the plot (Kid finds courage saving human to woo girl. Eight words this time.)

About the only thing that was original about this movie was the decision to make the world ‘alien’ and the spaceman human. Unfortunately, the filmmakers took that starting point and boldly went where every comedy kids movie has gone before. Planet 51, while being a nod to Area 51 is also an obscure reference to the fact that socially and culturally, this alien world almost identical to America in the 1950’s (Even down to the fact that for no adequately explained reason, this world has the same English spoken and written language and has a breathable atmosphere identical to Earth). That combined with the astronaut is from our world and our time, allows the film to joke about or drop reference to pretty much every sci-fi film from 50’s schlock cinema to recent classics. Unfortunately, all the jokes either fall flat or were used in the trailer. The characters are also pretty typical, so much so that instead of naming them Neera, Skiff, Grawl and Kipple they might as well have named them Love Interest, Goofy Friend, Grumpy Antagonist, and Grumpy Antagonist’s Sidekick.

I had no complaints about the animation. It was well done, but again, nothing groundbreaking. Probably the most unique character (Yes, even more interesting than the green-skinned aliens) was Rover, the robot sent ahead of the astronaut to take pictures and gather samples, and even he looked highly derivative of WALL-E. All the actors did well voicing their characters, but no one is going to be remembered for this movie. Justin Long (Lem) will still be known as Mac, Dwayne Johnson (Captain Charles Baker) will still be The Rock, and John Cleese (Professor Kipple) will still be known as old and English.

I value the time I spent seeing this movie as a matinee because of the people I saw it with. I don’t think it would have been worth seeing at full price, and I definitely don’t think it’s worth purchasing when it comes out. Pretty but dull. (Boy saves spaceman, gets girl. Ha! Five! New record!)

District 9 at the Mann's Chinese Theater

An interesting campaign for this movie was launched in Los Angeles. On busses, benches and billboards, graphics declared areas as “humans only” with a phone number to call and a website to visit should one spot any alien activity. It was a very simple design that brought one of the issues of the movie to the attention of the passerby. This campaign is an excellent match for the movie, which takes racism and other issues and uses sci-fi to twist to these issues into new perspectives for people to examine. Those people who wished the recent reboot of “Star Trek” had more allegory with its’ action will find plenty to like with this film.

The tribe and I caught this at Mann’s Chinese Theater on the main screen and we enjoyed it very much. It was a very well-done movie with a lot of over-the-top sci-fi action. The big screen really showed off the crisp digital picture (this film was shot on high-end RED cameras) and the excellent digital sound. I was very entertained by this film.

So why only two thumbs up? You really have no idea how close this film was to getting the full three. Really. It’s soooo close.

Neil Blomkamp has spent more of his career as a visual effects artist (Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1, Smallville) and he definitely puts as much of the budget onscreen as he could and it shows. The aliens and the spaceship look amazing and the interaction with humans is very realistic. Great care was taken to blend the CGI with the real world as seamlessly as possible. There is no no doubt of Blomkamp’s skill in this area. He is also the writer and director, though, and for all of his creativity in the visual effects field, the story is very pedestrian. I could see the plot progression coming a mile away. I’m usually able to let myself go along for the ride in a good sci-fi movie and not notice these things but the story was very obvious. However, Blomkamp’s talent as a director really helps make up for this weakness. While the story is nothing new, it is told excellently. I could guess what happens next, but I was certainly not bored waiting for the next thing to happen.

Peter Jackson’s name was hyped the most in the movie’s advertising even though he’s a producer and not a director, which makes sense business-wise, but the influence on this movie is not from the Lord of the Rings fanatic most of the public knows. This movie has more in touch with the guy who splattered his way through “Bad Taste”, “Meet the Feebles”, and “Braindead” (“Dead Alive” in the US) and if you’ve ever wondered what THAT Peter Jackson would do with a bigger budget, this is the answer. One scene in particular paid homage to the grisly opening of “Braindead”, putting the protagonist in an almost identical predicament.

Speaking of protagonists mention must be made of Sharlto Copley who plays the lead role of Wikus van de Merwe. According to my research, he is more of a writer and producer and had no plans or even aspirations to act or have any type of part in front of the camera, PLUS he improvised most of his dialogue. Coming from this background, I have to say he does an amazing job taking an unlikely wimp like Wikus and making him a sympathetic character. Part of this is probably due to the fact that many of the other human characters are very UNsympathetic and out to get Wikus for reasons that I’d rather not venture into spoiler country to explain, but Copley does a good job of making sure we like this guy. If he didn’t want to act before, he’d better learn to start turning down offers.

Maybe it’s the shifting of roles (effects artist-turned-writer/director, producer-turned-actor) or the fact that the story doesn’t take more risks (including setting itself up for an inevitable sequel), but there’s just a small amount that separates this very good film from a great film. It was well worth seeing in the theater, maybe even twice, and it is a solid digital download. If there is more from this story in the future, I really hope they step it up a notch.