Word: blomkamp
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...aliens, but this achievement is often clouded by Blomkamp’s willingness to use his creations as gory decoration. Similarly, those who see “District 9” for the violent, hedonistic ride will occasionally be put off by how heavy the plot can get as Blomkamp expounds on the limits and contradictions of human compassion. The aliens are the film’s greatest accomplishment, equal parts pitiable and repulsive. While they are horribly mistreated, their behavior often seems to deserve nothing better. It is here that the film truly makes its point. Despite the seemingly...
Sometimes bad breaks can bring great fortune. A few years ago, Peter Jackson, the Lord of the Rings movies, planned a big-screen version of the Halo video-game universe and tapped Neill Blomkamp to direct it. When that project collapsed after a few months, Jackson proposed that Blomkamp turn his science-fiction short Alive in Joburg into his first feature film. It would be set in Blomkamp's native South Africa, focus on the country's traumatic tradition of apartheid, have characters who speak in unfamiliar accents or unknown languages, boast no star power - the lead actor had never...
...made a triumphant invasion of North American theaters, pulling in an otherworldly $37 million (according to early studio estimates) and winning the weekend by outgrossing the previous box-office champ, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, by nearly $15 million. The results, which far exceeded industry expectations, instantly turns Blomkamp, the 29-year-old from Johannesburg, into the new prince of a town 10,000 miles away. Hollywood loves a guy who makes a smart, popular movie that in three days earns considerably more than its skimpy $30 million budget. Already the town is whispering its favorite word - franchise...
...ruin no surprises by saying that at the end of the film, there's promise of a sequel. Blomkamp swears that the possibility didn't occur to him until the last week of filming. "Now that I've started thinking about it, I would love to make another movie," he says. "I'd go back. But only if it's successful - only if people want it back...
They will. They'd better. For District 9 proves that genre films, besides being a hell of a lot of fun, can say things you hadn't considered and show stuff you haven't seen. There can be few anticipations more pleasant than the promise of Blomkamp's second terrific movie. Bring on District...