First Up… Lady Chow on AVATAR, “Once you go blue, you never go back”
James Cameron has done it again! Beautiful visuals make you want to escape to the world of Pandora, where a nature-loving people known as the Na’avi live peacefully, that is, until humankind tries to rape their world for the sake of an energy-producing “rock” that lies beneath their pristine Pandoran soil. A masterfully-created piece of cinematic “history.”
Worth seeing if only to see the technology and seamless blending of both CGI and real actors. A little long, at almost 3-hours, but well worth it. Avatar definitively draw-to-mind the history of the “white man conquering and claiming the land of the native American Indians.”
Sam Worthington, an Aussie import, shines as lead Jake Sully. Worthington, splendorous in his own right, would make any girl with a pulse take his arm and trample into the sunset. Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, shows us both power and beauty concurrently. Actor Stephen Lang gets flying colors as the villainous, albeit buff, Colonel Miles Quaritsch. I was disappointed by Giovanni Ribisi, cast as Parker Selfridge, the corporate “big wig” who schemes to rob Pandora of it’s “unobtanium” resources. His performance, I felt, fell a bit flat. If you’re going to go “villan”, best go big!
Hopefully, viewers won’t be too caught-up in the splendor and action of Avatar, so as to miss the critical “lessons” that this film teaches us about our own actions and the future of our planet if we don’t start to protect our “mother.”
Overall rating: 5 Stars
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Next up… Miss Kitty tells us why District 9 Should Sweep the Oscars:
When District 9 was released back in August of 2009 I was clearly not prepared for what I was in for. D-9 is not one of those mindless, contrived, all-been-done before sci-fi films. Sci-Fi, the very word causing film enthusiasts and critics alike to dismiss the genre as being effects driven and lacking in depth and story. District 9 proves them all wrong.
The story centers on the protagonist, Wikus Van De Merwe, who works for a large, malevolent government run corporation, called the MNU. Like an evil, inversion our UN, the MNU’s goal is to round up the alien refugees who ended up coming to earth in a type of galactic space raft 20 years ago. Upon their unintended arrival, the country welcomed the refugees, offering them a meager patch of land that has since become a shanty on the outskirts of Johanasberg. Flash forward to present day, the feeling towards the aliens (now derogatorily referred to as “prawns”) has shifted. Done in a convincing style of spliced together interviews, news footage and hand held camera shots, the film is interlaced with commentaries of angry human residents furious over the lingering of the “prawns”, saying quite simply, “They must go!” But the aliens can’t go. Due to lack of resources and an ever de-evolving intellect of the younger generation of the species, they lack the means and knowledge to get home.
Dealing with a subject matter such as aliens on earth can teeter on being stagey and hokey; think of the disappointing and pointless Alien Vs. Predator movies. District 9, however, with its clever use of documentary style, creates an entirely believable world where humans and aliens seamlessly merge into one plane of reality. If there is CG used to generate the creatures, you are totally unaware of it. The effects are just that astonishing.
To further cast a cruel fate on the species, the MNU has chosen to extract knowledge of the alien’s weaponry for monetary gain and a technological leg up in their own military advances and they do so by any means necessary. If there is one pure villain in D-9, it is the MNU and Blumenkamp conveys their cold, evilness brilliantly. One scene had me so over come with tension and unease that I felt I had to leave the theater. The film touches on our memory of the Nazi concentration camps. The alien-other, having no other place to go and living in filthy shanty towns are systematically being rounded up by an MNU mandate and being sent to a location where they will become prisoners and ultimately forgotten about. It is a theme we are familiar with. Through out history, given two civilizations, the stronger can and will bring about the destruction of the weaker.
Furthermore, the film leaves you with an unsettling critique how we treat other individuals and beings who we decide are unworthy of the most basic rights, based on the fact that they don’t look or sound like us. The fact that the movie can deliver pathos towards a being that looks like a cross between a shrimp and a cockroach is no minor feat. There is nothing soft, dowey-eyed, or “ET” about these creatures. They are disgusting and yet in the end you are cheering for them and your heart breaks at every set back they face. Despite their alien dialogue of screeches and clicking, despite the scaly skin, a very real bond between a father and son shines through without being forced or cliché. In one particular scene, the alien protagonist lingers over the corpse of a fellow being who had been violently tortured by the MNU. The shock, sadness and finally hopelessness the character conveys is more palpable than any thing I have seen to date brought forth by a live actor. Without being bloody or relying on over the top special effects, District 9 casts the reflection back upon us of how cruel and merciless our species can be towards another living thing.
One last thing that needs mention about District 9 is the character of Wikus, masterfully played by newbie actor Sharlto Copley. Haven’t heard of him? You’re not alone. Copley’s background is not acting. He was a show host for one of South Africa’s most popular television shows yet when he read the lines for Wikus, director Neil Blomkamp knew there could be no one else to play the part. The character is not the pure of heart good guy we’ve come to expect from such fare as Avatar. Instead, he is completely flawed. When we meet him, he is a loveable yet daft pawn for the MNU. Later, it is through the MNU that Wikus is exposed to a biological agent that brings about an alarming physical transformation. To be sure, we see Wikus transform physically but the more amazing transformation is how his character evolves and finally transcends his naive, company-man persona. Emotions run from sympathy to hatred as his character, through his own desperation, undermines those trying to help him. In the end, we see him for what he is and the pain of his grim metamorphosis is almost too horrible to bear. We witness the devastation and ruin of an innocent, completely used and finally crushed by the corporation he so trusted. It is a meditation on how our own greedy empires, both in the government and private sector, can so completely destroy the lives of the people who serve it.
Although we endure Wikus’ pain right along with him, the film does not leave us there but instead ends on an unexpectedly hopeful note. One thing about District 9 is that it keeps you in a constant state of surprise and awe until the credits roll up. The final scene will leave you thinking about the movie long after you leave the theater.
Overall Rating: 5 Stars
