William Leggett

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.