District 9

"I just want everyone watching this right now to learn from what has happened."

So, I have just finished watching District 9. I am speechless.

Yeah right, you wish... I am never speechless.

I feel like this is Peter Jackson weekend or something, because as you might recall, I recently reviewed The Lovely Bones, which was directed by Peter Jackson, and now I am reviewing a movie produced by Peter Jackson. I feel the sudden urge to write a Peter Jackson biography... You know what, followers? Change of plan; instead of reviewing District 9 I will be telling the story of Peter Jackson's life.

Just kidding.

District 9, as I said before, was produced by Peter Jackson, and directed by Canadian director Neill Blomkamp, who's only feature film is District 9, and I think he is going to get some calls from producers after this one. This film stars Sharlto Copley as Wikus Van De Merwe, Jason Cope, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, David James, and William Allen Young. If you are the type who sees movies based on the actors in them, then you probably won't watch this movie. Unless you also look at the producer, you won't be that lured to watch this film only based on the actors. So for all of you skeptics out there, THIS MOVIE IS DIRECTED BY PETER JACKSON! And most of you still probably don't care.

District 9 switches from documentary format to the regular really fancy camera and awesome lighting format, which I love. It follows an alternative reality where twenty years ago, an unidentified flying object is spotted over Johannesburg, South Africa. After some exploration, millions of arthropod-like extraterrestrial species who are not well taken care of are found, and are given shelter on Earth on a government camp, District 9. There, what the human population has adapted to referring to as "prawns", engage in the act of criminal activities, but are forced to be kept there because the government has separated them from the mother ship. Without any prawns on board, the mother ship cannot move, so the government decides upon leaving it over the city. Over time, humans develop a dislike towards these humanoids and grow tired of their destructive and hazardous activities. The government decides upon setting up a separate camp, District 10, 200 kilometers outside of Johannesburg, were prawns are supplied more decent shelter.

Multinational United (MNU) is given the task of relocating prawns to District 10, but to do so legally, they must get each of the 1.8 million prawns residing District 9 to sign eviction notices. Wilkus Van De Merwe is promoted as MNU field operative, and sets out to harshly persuade the prawns to sign the eviction notices. Along the way, he is exposed to an alien fluid which causes his DNA to mutate into prawn DNA. Since prawn weapons can only respond to prawn DNA, he becomes highly valuable, and is taken into government custody, were he is harshly treated as a biological experiment.

What really makes District 9 unique is that it could easily turn from an alien movie into a human movie, because its plot demonstrates the human nature of discrimination and vicious ambition. It really demonstrates how these people really treat these aliens horridly, even though the only reason they are stuck in Earth is because of technical malfunction. If there weren't any subtitles to the extraterrestrial dialogue, we would probably think of them as this antagonistic invader, but since you understand what they are saying, you are driven to feel pity for them and for how they are treated so unfairly. You see how the government really forces them to sign these notices that should really be optional, and how even the protagonist begins the movie with having this really rude nature towards prawns.

It really is a very human film. It shows how amongst District 9, prawns form gangs, smuggle weapons, steal, and do that sort of things that you would find in a troubled human community in reality. You see how humans sneak into District 9 and form this sort of mafia within it, and how their cruel ambition to master alien weaponry leads them to kill prawns for weapons. It is genius how they sneaked their belief of sorcery and the supernatural into District 9, which very much makes District 9 like any other troubled city, except it has aliens. It all feels very genuine and human.

You even see the example of government mistreating their own people when you see them literally force this mutated, shocked, scared, and innocent field agent down as they try to pry his chest open. It shows both how far people will go in really desperate straits and how ignorant they can be.

The story is partly told in this documentary format, which, if the events in this movie were really happening, you would actually expect to be on the History Channel or on Discovery, and it gives it such a genuine feel. I mean the CGI (special effects) is amazing, but that is really not what captivates you in this movie, which is just downright incredible.

The ending is one of my favorite parts about this film, because it is so not by the book. At first, you think, "That's it?", but then when you think about, it actually is quite satisfying, and it is somewhat more realistic as a fictional story goes.

District 9, although sometimes graphic, is visually stunning, yet manages to captivate the audience in a movie that can't really fit into the category of science fiction, about discrimination and impatience, has a genuine ambiance, has a very satisfying outcome, and tells a very human story.

My verdict: 8/10

-Wolfie