District 9

In 1938 Orson Welles scared the daylights out of radio listeners with War of the Worlds. A decade later movie goers were enthralled by movies such as The Thing From Another World, Robot Monster, Invaders from Mars, and It Came from Outer Space. Visits from space creatures continue to be a theme in Sci-Fi movies. Some creatures scare us and some (E.T.) connect us. The one question that always remains the same by audiences is simply: Why are they here and what will they do to us? District 9 is a little different. It's the first movie (that I can remember) that begs the question: What will WE do to them?

Directed by South African filmster Neill Blomkamp, District 9 begins as a news documentary with mock interviews and shaky "live" footage from inside an alien camp called (drum roll please) District 9. The interviews with top government officials and townspeople reveal to the audience that back in the 1980s a spacecraft stalled in the sky above Johannesburg. The passengers of the craft were of an alien race who had somehow become lost in their travels. They are sick, disoriented, starving, and in need of our help. Unlike the normal "alien" Sci-fi, these creatures are not here to harm...but stuck and in need of the human race's compassion and assistance. We answer the call and rescue the hundreds of hungry and lost creatures. Well...so it seemed.

The aliens, called Prawns due to their crustacean-like appearance, are placed in a refugee camp in a district outside of the city limits of Johannesburg. Here they are stored and separated from human civilization. Over the next 20 years the settlement becomes a deplorable shantytown as they are neglected, misunderstood, feared, and hated by the human race just outside their barbed wire enclosure. It's sad how fast we....this superior race as we like to see ourselves will turn on that which is misunderstood and ugly.

As it progresses, District 9 uncovers a horrific program of medical experimentation fueled by a a corrupt government and corporate greed. A company called M.N.U. (Multi-National United) has taken control of the district and means to move the aliens to a more remote area of South Africa presumably to conduct more gruesome experiments on our wayward friends. Through the M.N.U. we meet our main character. A hapless, weak, often ridiculed employee named Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley).

Wikus is put in charge of a team that is sent into the district to evict the alien occupants and inform them of their upcoming move thanks to the M.N.U. He is arrogant, mean, and brutal when dealing with the helpless creatures who don't fully understand the language their captors speak. You instantly dislike this little Wikus Weasel and fully expect that the movie will lead in a direction that you get to see him "get his". However, it twists. While evicting our lead Alien character named Christopher Johnson (how very human..lol) a terrible accident befalls Wikus. From there the film takes us in an unexpected direction. District 9 shifts from an alien sci-fi film to a zombie feel and then AGAIN into an action packed alien/human buddy escape movie.

There are openings for a sequel but in this girl's opinion it would be a weak one. Most of the punches are here and they didn't leave much to cover for another go 'round. District 9's story will open your eyes and draw you in even if the fake news footage shot in shaky documentary style gives you a bit of a headache. District 9 is not out of this world but it's worth a see when it releases on DVD in the next months (yeah I know...I haven't actually blogged in weeks. I work a full time too, ya know). It's not your normal Sci-Fi flick and it's produced by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) so it's not a let down by any means.

RATING: R
CAST: Sharlto Copley ,David James , Jason Cope, Vanessa Haywood, and Louis Minnaar