Here is state of the art animation and wonderful voice acting in an apocalyptic story that is very dark and dismal. I was fooled by the titles and when I saw Tim Burton in big letters, I assumed he directed this. He was one of the executive producers. I can’t complain about the animation, it is great, but I wonder what it would have looked like if Burton had done it with models and stop motion photography. That would be ungodly expensive today, but there’s something about that style that brings things to life in a way even the best animation doesn’t. The little characters are interesting and well portrayed by a number of well known actors. The story is really like the Terminator franchise. Skynet is created and the machines take over. Don’t look too deep though. Just enjoy the animation and voices. If you try to make sense of the story or question what happens in the aftermath, you’ll be left scratching your head. It’s merely a cartoon afterall.
Archive for September, 2009
I didn’t hear anything about this movie before I saw it and wasn’t expecting much from it. I found it rather entertaining for an action film and it had some intriguing ideas presented too. It has its roots firmly in movies like Death Race 2000 (1975), Death Race (2008) and The Running Man (1987). We have a framed man fighting his way through a corrupt “game” and we cheer him on through various grisly encounters. This movie adds a new element that shows a dark side to our current infatuation with all forms of social media. It took me a while to recognize Gerard Butler as our hero, because I didn’t see any previews and he wasn’t dressed as a comic book Spartan. He gives a solid performance and you empathize with his plight. There are some gritty run and gun scenes with tricked out G-36’s and all manor of other rifle platforms. The ending is a bit disappointing and anti-climactic, but overall worth a matinee showing or DVD/On demand viewing.
I was expecting the humor. I was expecting the cartoon-like over the top graphic violence. I was expecting the quick and clever dialogue. I wasn’t quite expecting the visual splendor and drama Quentin puts in this film. The opening scene is so tense and dramatic. I didn’t think Tarantino would take a scene that seriously. He shows he can get great things out of the actors and one wonders what he could do if he chose to direct a “serious” movie. There are the classic Tarantino elements we come to expect: The complex storyline that we know will bring together seemingly unrelated sub-plots and a sound track that fits like a glove. It happens almost subconsciously. Here is a movie set in WWII occupied France and the music is from the 1970’s through today, and it just works beautifully. The cast is great, though Steve Buscemi seems to be missing. Brad Pitt is actually very good, and for once over acting helps the performance. The standout is naturally the main antagonist, Colonel Hans Landa played by Christoph Waltz. He is just brilliant. There must be an Oscar nomination for him. He is hysterical one moment and really scary the next. The women are the usual smart, strong, beautiful femme fatale’s and especially elegant due to the 1940’s clothing. As in most Tarentino productions there is an homage to a genre and the post-war war movie gets the Quentin effect here. There is a bit of The dirty Dozen(1967), Kelly’s Heroes(1970), and Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron(1977). I’m sure there are allusions to other European war movies as well, including the Italian movie that has the same title, actually titled Quel maledetto treno blindato(1978). This is a very good movie and immensely entertaining. It shows that Quentin Tarantino is maturing and evolving as a director, but still has a unique style that is not like anything coming from the usual studios.
When you have a small budget and no big names to draw attention to your project, you just may have to rely on originality and a good story to carry the day. For $30 million dollars you can get an amazingly entertaining film with all the thrills and action of mega blockbusters whose 2 A-list actors may have cost $30 million and have a promotional budget of the same amount. Quality ain’t always about the money. In District 9 we have what starts out as a standard stranger in a strange land theme similar to Alien Nation(1988). The setting of South Africa and Johannesburg brings out many allusions and metaphors the viewer can process as he pleases. The use of humor is excellent. There is a very dark theme running throughout and black humor that discharges some of the tension that builds up in various scenes. The acting is very good. Unfamiliar actors are often less distracting and draw us into a character a bit more. I would have had a different reaction, I think, had the main character been Christian Bale or Johnny Depp. In this movie we have a story. We aren’t told everything right away. We have to figure things out. The audience is engaged in the story, not merely dazzled with eye candy and effects. I was engrossed with the visuals and the story from beginning to end. The buzz and clever selling of this film is a lesson for future promotions. Compared to Sci-Fi films with huge budgets like Transformers, or Terminator: Salvation, this production is head and shoulders above them. I hope more original projects come from this. District 9 has rekindled my love for good science fiction films once more.
