District 9 The Review
Sunday, September 6, 2009 at 7:44PM 
This evening i went to see this movie with my fiancée and some friends (they will love that) after watching some of the trailers on various video sharing sites and was hoping the movie wouldn't let me down.
Well, for me it didn't let me down. Another reason which makes it stand out is that it is obviously a big budget movie but doesn't take place in the United States which must be a first for the Hollywood movie moguls. But the actual setting is in Johannesburg and tells of a group of aliens who become stranded on earth when their ship runs out of fuel and becomes disabled.
The film then flicks in and out of a pseudo documentary style as footage from news feeds, security cameras, and cameras are used to set all the events and also introduce the main character of the film, Wikus Van De Merwe who is an employee of the Multi Nations United (MNU) which is a private security firm which is in charge of overseeing the aliens and keeping them under control.
While much of this is to keep the public’s fear and disdain for the aliens they derogatorily call “Prawns” as they look like 7ft shrimps at bay. The true motive of the MNU is to unlock the secrets of the alien’s technology specifically their advanced weaponry.
The alien weaponry cannot be used by humans as only the aliens genetic signatures can enable the weapons to fire, and as such, 20 years after the arrival of the aliens, the MNU is still unable to take advantage of the new technology.
The crux of the films details Wikus’s promotion to lead a massive relocation of the aliens from their shanty town in District 9 to a more remote location that will better allow the creatures to remain removed from the disdainful locals.
While the relocation of the aliens is forceful, the MNU attempts to appease international community and alien rights advocates by requiring the aliens to consent to the relocation to District 10. The fact that this is done at gunpoint is of no consequence to the MNU as the staff and soldiers show utter disdain for the aliens and even resort to such drastic actions as arbitrarily destroying a nest of their eggs in order to keep their population under control.
During the relocation process, Wikus is clearly enjoying his new position and the status of being the focal point of the documentary. As he attempts to show off some contraband to the camera crew, he is exposed to a dark liquid substance that starts to alter his DNA.
In less than 24hrs, Wikus goes from a mild mannered husband and company man to the most wanted man in the world, when it is discovered his DNA is starting to change into alien DNA which allows him to operate the alien weaponry.
Wikus is exposed to the true nature of the MNUand his father in law, and seeks refuge in District 9 where he allies with an alien in an effort to regain his lost humanity. Along the way, his viewpoints change and he suddenly realises the need to help the aliens.
“District 9” begins in “Cloverfield” faux-reality-programming style with those shaky-cam shots, talking heads and a mix of real news footage of apartheid-related strife mixed with new footage of alien refugee strife.
But when it gets going, once Wikus goes on the run from killer government agents and hooks up with a brilliant prawn scientist (Jason Cope) and his mischievous son, it’s a ride and a half and definitely not for the squeamish. In “District 9,” human actors and CGI characters interact like never before.
The film is a smart mix of action, science fiction, and social commentary as the obvious parallels to Apartheid are clear in the film. The characters are interesting and the film cleverly mixes humor in with the social commentary without hitting you over the head with it. I would certainly recommend seeing this movie to friends.
District 9, Movie, Review 
Reader Comments (5)
It was awesome! Did you write this whole review yourself?! I bet you just copy and pasted it. Also I thought the prawn scientist was called christopher Johnson.?
Ive just spent the last 1hr and a bit writing it. Jason Cope is the actor that plays the role of the scientist prawn. check it out on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/
You are also the first person to comment anywhere on the site. Woohoo
I'm afraid, I have to disagree with your film review. I thought not enough attention was paid in explaining how the aliens got to earth, what they were doing there, and why they ran out of fuel.
I don't think it deserves a comparison to the brilliant, JJ Abrams produced Cloverfield which uses his distinctive viral "be afraid of what you can't see" style to get the viewer intrigued in the film. With District 9 there is no mystery with the aliens, as they appear on screen in the first few minutes of the film.
The beginning 20 minutes of the film are very much in a documentary style which is also used in the last 5 minutes of the film. I found this irritating, with the constant shaky camera work, and the highly annoying music in the background.
I did appreciate the fact that it was not filmed in America, but in Johannesburg, and with unknown actors. This, however I feel is the only positive critique I can give.
The film clearly gears up for a sequel, perhaps a predictable alien vs human war on earth. I certainly won't be going to see it.
I want to disagree with the disagreement above.
D9 is not really a sci-fi movie at all. I is a piece of social commentary utilizing clichés from the sci-fi/alien movie genre as metaphors to satirically depict the social realities of the PRESENT (do take note) South Africa. If you don't believe me go read:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/xenophobia_in_south_africa.html
There are also obvious references to the realities of shack dwelling in SA in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abahlali_baseMjondolo
To compare it to other sci-fi movies is actually to miss the point altogether. That is why there is no mystery involved in how the aliens made their appearance. We South Africans KNOW how they got there! The fact that the mothership is so obviously a copy of the Independance Day scenario and of flying saucers images of the fifties further underscores the fact that the whole alien-movie setting is meant to be seen as metaphorical.
Non-South Africans will perhaps not recognize that the style of clothing worn by the 'prawns' resemble that of many Zimbabwian refugee shack dwellers rather closely. Those of us familiar with SA history are far less concerned about the many loose ends of the movie as we recognize that its intent was not to recreate a believable alternative future world for the purposes of speculation about what it would be like to live in it, which is what the true sci-fi genre is about. If you are a true sci-fi afficionado then this movie is probably not for you. This is satire, albeit dark, not sci-fi, from beginning to end, right up to the point where Wikus van der Merwe completely changes into an alien himself.
The title is of course a reference to District 6, a coloured suburb in Cape Town, which was the victim of forced removal during the Apartheid era. Thus the film actually draws our attention to the fact that history is repeating itself...
At the copy and paste again leggett??