One of my Art Professors once cautioned that when viewing a work of art - whether it be a painting or a short film - the observer should take a step back and first fathom the emotions that washed over the senses.
A clever artist, after all, is capable of manipulating the elements to seduce the individual.
That's the case with Neill Blomkamp's Sci-Fi thriller - District 9 - released by Tri-Star pictures.
Understandably.
Blomkamp started out in the biz as a director of videos and TV commercials.
A master of slick vacuous images, Blomkamp's film work has no soul or spirit to speak of.
To an intelligent person with unfailing logic, the plot does hold much water, either.
In the introductory scenes, it is duly noted that disease-ridden aliens crash-landed on Earth about two decades ago, and were summarily herded into a squalid cordoned-off neighborhood in South Africa (out of harm's way, presumably).
Through the clever use of fictional news-reel footage, it was established further that the aliens were at the mercy of their captors (the human race!) and literally faced dire straits because of their primitive nature and inability to broach their base animal instincts and rise up against their foes.
But, an intelligent filmgoer will undoubedly catch the irony of that unfolding scenario, on screen.
Surely a race of aliens - capable of crafting a spaceship with the remarkable technology (and wizardry) alleged by the screenwriters here - would not have allowed themselves to be kept under the thumb of alien beings obviously inferior to their highly-advanced intergalactic race!
Once the filmgoer has recongized the folly of it all, it is wholly possible to settle down and realx into the vastly entertaining (and engrossing) visual aspects of the film (go along for the joy ride after suspending belief).
Lots of action, humor, and a posse of delightfully wicked villains, manage to hold the filmgoers in sway (and on the edge of their seats) as they furiously munch on high-calorie snacks washed down with frosty sodas and what-not.
Yessir, dudes!
District 9 - with all its sophistication and near grace - is just a plain old popcorn movie!
Pass the butter, please.
During a Q & A session, the director humbly confided that he was not seasoned enough to direct a film of the calibre of Shinder's list (he'll leave that to professionals like Spielberg he gushed almost too quickly).
But, you know what?
Blomkamp is not talented or experienced enough to craft a Hollywood feature sure to stand the test of time, either.
The direction was pedestrian, at best.
And, there was too much stalled action, from the get-go.
Dude - just pop the guy - and get it over with.
The cloying way a handful of key scenes were executed was downright BORING.
However, in spite of himself, there was a nifty notion or two lurking in the carnage that was District 9.
The plot device that conjured up the idea about a piece of military equipment (and high-tech space craft) - that only functions when triggered by the user's DNA - was quite an imaginative dalliance with myriad possibililties.
When one character was left in a lurch - half-human / half-alien - he is assured that the leader of the Alien Nation will be back in three years to cure him of his hybrid genetics.
Ah, the door is opened wide for a sequel.
It strecthed one's credulity to imagine that Director Neill Blomkamp was clueless about the potential of a follow-up project to resolve that loose end as he would have us believe the other night at the Landmark.
Wise old owls like me just chuckle at that kind of silly co**-tease.
For a run-down on the highlights of the interview click on the link:
Post: 11/10/09
http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2009/11/los-angeles-timesenvelope-screening-of.html
In the final analysis, District 9 is sure to fair well in video sales down the line, and at endless rounds of all-nighters at local revival houses, on an alien-invaders triple bill.
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