Elevator Pitch
Back in the 1980s a vast alien spaceship is suddenly seen to be hovering over Johannesburg and on investigation it is found to be full of distressed aliens who are relocated to a shack city where they live in squalor. Later the “prawns” are to be evicted in an operation controlled by the MNU corporation and led by a man who accidentally becomes contaminated with an alien fluid and begins to become a prawn himself. His new ability to operate alien weapons results in him becoming a fugitive, but also provides him with the means of survival.
Content.
The film is presented in part as a sort of documentary with the many speeches to camera but once the action starts the process is discarded. There are harrowing scenes as the contaminated man is experimented on in a government laboratory and even more harrowing scenes after he escapes and is captured by a Nigerian gang who intend to cut off his alien appendages with machetes. Thereafter several increasingly intense shoot-outs with modern firearms and alien weapons. No nudity or sex, just a bit of drinking and quite a lot of swearing.
| A View | Back in 2009 I saw this in the cinema and was impressed, as were others since it was nominated for a number of Oscars (but did not win any), and made a lot of money. On re-viewing it was still fascinating although I felt that there was a certain lack of logic in aspects of the plot. However, well worth your time if you like a bit of allegorical scifi. | ||
| Duration | 1h 52m | Rating (UK) | 15 |
| Source of story | An original screenplay loosely based on events in South Africa during the apartheid years. | ||
| Director | Neill Blomkamp | ||
| Writers/Script | Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell | ||
| Starring | Shartlo Copley, David James, Jason Cope | ||
| Additional Info | The main character is Wikus Van De Merwe, apparently a name which is associated with jokes about a very foolish or incompetent Africaaners. | ||
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