District 9

"District 9" Review in 30 minutes

Trevor Kirbabas

"District 9" begins by setting up a common sci-fi scenario: Over two decades ago, a spaceship appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa, and simply hovered, motionless.

Once our military forced its way in, however, they found millions of starving, groggy aliens without any leader. Placed in a filthy shantytown outside Johannesburg called District 9, the "prawns" multiply and soon rebel against the rules enforced on them, as South Africa enacts laws to segregate them from humans. While moving the prawns to an even worse encampment, an Afrikaner official, Wikus needs help from a prawn called Christopher after Wikus is unexpectedly used and hunted by his own government agency. The film makes a statement about inhumanity in the irony of Wikus becoming more humane as he becomes less human. Throughout the movie, Wilkis becomes more aware of the aliens' difficulty, eventually helping them escape the planet, even turning on his own species to do so. The theme of the movie seems to a character dealing with his inner struggle and becomes a better person from it.

The first 15 minutes of "District 9" use handheld cameras and surveillance video, images that evoke a traditional story, parts of which may remind viewers of the apartheid. Director Neill Blomkamp uses many metaphors without ever sparing the action, some of which rank with the best of its kind, same goes for the CGI special effects, The special effects are responsible for the movie's seamless blending of worlds between these aliens and humans. The ominous, giant ship is visible in almost every shot, and the insect-shelled prawns have wiry torsos, wiggly antennae and expressive eyes, Once the more obvious aspects of the genre are addressed, the movie never feels preachy when dealing with its apartheid metaphor, Blomkamp fills "District 9" with some of the edgy, and unsettling, thrills. That it's full of ideas and even genuine heart make it much more than just another creature feature. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone looking for a heartfelt adventurous movie. 

4/5 stars