Review of District 9 (2009) by Raji K — 04 Feb 2017

Neill Blomkamp writes and directs District 9. Aliens have arrived on Earth in the area of Johannesburg, South Africa. After a few months, humans invade their mother ship to find all the aliens on the ship are sick and mal nourished. The Aliens are extracted and placed in a concentration ship like area known as District 9. It is not long before the area the slums, due to criminal activity and violence surrounding the interest in the aliens. The aliens are victims of interspecies sex, abuse, fraud, and cruelty.

After quite a few protests from the government they decide to forcefully evict the aliens from this area. Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) leads the effort to get the aliens to migrate. Many of the aliens are confused, others are hostile, and there are causalities on both sides. Wikus at one point gets mistakenly exposed to a black fluid which makes him quite sick. He tries to fight it off, but gets more and more ill. After hours of exposure he starts turning into one of the aliens. Instantly the government tries to control him as a weapon without any regard for his health as he is now able to harness and use the alien technology since half of his arm is now alien. Wikus escapes and becomes a wanted fugitive. His only hope is another alien who knew of the black liquid, help them escape and get him turned back into human.

What makes District 9 most interesting is the format it is presented. The movie is filmed almost in a reality TV/documentary like fashion. This makes the entire film feel almost like it is breaking news of an actual event. The film also does an amazing job reflecting on some of human's poorest qualities as they abuse, mistreat, and kill the aliens for no reason. You soon to begin to feel sorry for the aliens and by slowly shifting and making humanity the enemy, you then root for the hybrid Wikus to escape and allow the new aliens to evacuate. District 9 is an original and highly engaging science fiction film that breaks the mold and separates itself from many features that feature aliens.

-2.4.2017.