November 12th, 2009 by J

Synopsis:

It’s been 28 years since the aliens first arrived, not with an attack from the skies, nor with a profound technological revelation. Instead, the aliens were treated as refugees. The last of their kind, The government of South Africa sets up a makeshift home in District 9 while politicians and world leaders debated how to handle them. The humans begin to grow wary of the Prawns (a derogatory name for the aliens) and a private company called Multi-National United (MNU) is assigned to control the aliens. But MNU is less interested in the aliens’ welfare than attempting to understand their weaponry which requires alien DNA in order to be activated .

When MNU field operative Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is exposed to a chemical that causes his DNA to mutate, the tensions between the aliens and the humans intensifies. Wikus is the key to unlocking the alien’s technology, and he quickly becomes the most wanted man on the planet.

For his directorial debuet Neill Blomkamp has started with a stonker. The film is shot if a very Documentry style with all the shakes and bumps that go along with it (Cloverfield, Blair witch etc.) but actually lends itself to the film as the whole feel is very real. The use of a shanty town as the holding area is fantasticly thought out and being shot in South africa goes no small way to highlight and mimick the areas currently there already.

It is also great to see a well thought out piece of Sci-fi that does not have us running around America and shows that there are other countries in the world. Despite the look and feel of the film as being a bit slap dash and low budget the special effects are very good and blend nicely with the film, They are not overdone and give it a better feel of reality. It is nice to see some of the old school effect touches that could only have come from Peter Jacksons influence on the movie.

Sharlto Copley is a reletive new comer but plays his part fantasicly well as the totaly “out of his depth” MNU officer running for his life.

Overall this is a fantastic movie and one I shall by purchasing asap.

DVD release:  28th Dec 2009

**Please feel free to comment**

November 6th, 2009 by J

Synopsis:

A cowardly guy named Columbus played by Jesse Eisenberg is forced to join up with a seasoned zombie-slayer named Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) in order to survive in the USA AKA Zombieland. Tallahassee is on a mission to find the last Twinkie on Earth, While Columbus is just trying to get to Columbus. The duo meet up with Wichita played by the wonderful Emma Stone and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), two young girls who have some unorthodox methods to surviving life. Strange partners in the battle against the hordes of undead, all four soon begin to wonder if it might be better to simply take their chances alone.

OK! for the most part the term Comedy horror tends to leave me a little cold but on this occasion not so.

Zombieland is not a plot-heavy and dramatic piece of film history, but it is funny, and clever in places and ticks all the boxes for me.

There are few jokes made, the humor is more from people doing things that people might do, just filmed very well. The movie has lots of zombies that fit the bill of the fast moving type that seem to be the trend in zombie movies at the moment and some great stuff that surrounds this usual genre with quite a few of the “Oh C**p” moments you want.

The cast obviously had a great time making this film, and all four characters did a very good job of fitting in with the style of the movie. Woody Harrelson plays his role well and Jesse Eisenberg Brings a real life quality to the film. The whole thing is shot in a documentary style which for once does not become annoying after 5 mins and lends nicely to Columbus’s list of rules that he lives by in order to survive.

Personally this film will be going into my collection when it comes out on DVD (TBC).