District 9 Review, plus I Love You, Man and The Soloist
By RHCPfan24 7 Comments
Here is another trio of movies I have seen recently. Two of them were moderate to pretty good, while another one was amazing. Again, guess which is which.
District 9
I remember it clearly: It was the summer of 2006 and a relatively unknown director, Neil Blomkamp, was chosen to direct a movie based off of Halo, the revolutionary first-person shooter video game. Even at that time, I was unsure if I wanted a Halo movie to come out. After all, movie-video game adaptations have had a history of being egregiously bad, with few to no exceptions. I was relieved to hear that the project was scrapped because of financial problems, with the producers asking for a budget of 
District 9, with its subject matter of extraterrestrials, is, ironically, very human. It is about the story of a gargantuan Alien mothership that stalls above Johannesburg. From here, aliens are given a home in the city below and are segregated into a separate section of the city, District 9. District 9 is basically a slum in the nicest description and all the aliens live in shanty houses and poor conditions. These aliens, called "Prawns" by many humans, look like a crustacean-cephalopod creature and make various moaning and clicking sounds to communicate with one another. They vary in intelligence and ferocity but they are all united by one purpose: they want to go home. Even with their repulsive appearance, the aliens have a very human heart and do not appreciate being treated like the bottom-feeders the humans believe they are. This story relates very closely to the real-life segregation that occurred in Johannesburg many years ago.
The film follows the story of Wikus Van De Merwe, played by newcomer Sharlto Copley. He starts as a relatively annoying, forgettable character but evolves to be much, much more. He is assigned to be in charge of the forced relocation of the alien denizens of District 9 and starts his raid on the village with plenty of armed soldiers behind him. This introduction is very well-made using mostly handheld cameras in a documentary style fashion. Most aliens view the humans in contempt and respond in a violent fashion, prompting the humans to fight back. Many of these encounters are actually very sad and show the barbarity that humans can display. However, during a raid on a house with the intelligent, caring alien called Christopher Johnson, Wikus is infected with an alien compound and starts to experience a metamorphosis. I will refrain from revealing the rest of the story because it is worth experiencing firsthand.
Copley's performance in this film is fascinating and an amazing debut to start on. He makes the viewer feel his pain in addition to seeing it and delivers a performance akin to Jeff Goldblum's in The Fly. His transformation is very grotesque and not for the faint at heart, with blood, black vomit and decaying appendages by the plenty. He also develops a bond with Christopher Johnson and this proves to be one of the film's greatest strengths. For once, he finds himself united with these "alien" species and exiled by the humans.
The special effects in the film are also spectacular. With only a budget of $30 million, it made me think if the extravagant, $200 million + films truly put their budget to good use because this film accomplished these admirable and beautiful feats of technology with a fraction of the money. All the aliens are given great detail that properly conveys their features and emotions, and the omnipresent mothership is a wonder to behold. It is also amusing that the final action scene involving a alien mech suit is better than any scene Transformers 2 had whatsoever. Blompkamp is an artist while Michael Bay is a soulless machine, in the end.
Overall, District 9 is one of the best movies of the summer and a must-see for anyone seeking an original adventure. The movie starts out strong with its documentary style approach and then improves with its emotional, graphic human tale. The ending is also very touching and beautiful. It resonated with me long after I left the theater and affirmed the film's artistic merit. In the end, District 9 is the perfect summer film.
4.5/5 Stars
I Love You, Man
I was surprised to hear that Judd Apatow had no direct connection to this film in one bit. Then I was relieved. While I love all that Apatow has made and done for the 21st century comedy scene, it is great to see his "disciples" move past his guidance and do things by themselves. As a result, I Love You, Man is a perfect example of the stars taking charge and starting their own scene. I Love You, Man is about the story a man named Peter (Paul Rudd). Peter has no friends, well, male friends at least. He has always been the lady's man but never developed a close bond to a male. He realizes this needs to change when he has no best man for his wedding. So, Peter goes on a quest to find a "bromance" with someone who he can see eye-to-eye with. There are a bunch of funny scenes with him finding that "special someone," with the predictable situation when one of his targets turns out to be gay and is looking for more than a friendship. However, Peter finally finds Sydney Fife (Jason Segal), a dude that he instantly clicks with. What results are the various, amusing situations they get into as well as the usual conflict and *spoiler alert* make-up they have at the end. If there is any real con about this film, it is that it is very, very predictable. Thankfully, the movie is funny enough to keep you entertained for its reasonable duration.
Paul Rudd and Jason Segal are the perfect duo. Paul plays the awkward, desperate-to-please friend while Jason fits in with the laid-back, forgiving mold his character possesses. Andy Samberg appears as Peter's gay brother and JK Simmons and Jane Curtin are Peter's very amusing parents. There is also a scene with an Apatow, Paul Rudd-regular: Joe Lo Truglio. You probably don't recognize his name but he is an instantly recognizable character. He played Lonnie, a minor character whose voice cracked every time he spoke. These scenes were hilarious and he was my favorite part of the film, no small praise.
So, I Love You, Man is a very funny movie. It follows the regular formula we all know but that is fine when there is great talent behind each of the characters.
The Soloist
The Soloist is a sweet, passionate movie that you have to give credit to because of the pure talent that is behind it. Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx are both excellent in their roles, most particularly Foxx as Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr., a musical prodigy that suffers from severe schizophrenia. He really pours his heart into the character and, as Robert Downey said himself in Tropic Thunder, he did not go "full retard." The film does drag at times and occasionally loses focus but it remains endearing enough to leave a positive impact. Joe Wright, the director of Atonement, layers some beautiful imagery throughout and does a great job as director, even if the movie is not up to the quality of his previous film. Overall, The Soloist is an inspiring film that is worth a viewing just to see the great performances it holds.