A Review of "District 9"

District 9 is the story of Wikus (Sharlto Copley) a bumbling goof that is put in charge of relocating a large population of visiting other-worldly aliens into another area of South Africa.  I know what you're thinking--not that old plot line again.  The best part of this movie is its plot is anything but predictable. 

I wouldn't say that I'm a big science fiction fan, but I had heard good things about this movie, so I gave it a try, and I'm glad I did.  It did not make for a dull evening.  It began as a mock documentary about Wikus and explained how the alien ship appeared over Johannesburg and the events that led to the contact with the aliens.  The aliens look like human size shrimp--in fact they humans refer to them derogatorily as "Prawn."

Without giving too much of the plot away, the "documentary" follows Wikus and his the troops from the corporation for which they all work as they attempt to evict the aliens from the slum where they have lived for the past 20 years near Johannesburg to an even worse camp farther outside the city. 

Wikus becomes "infected" with alien DNA and begins a metamorphosis that is not pretty to watch.  Wikus eventlually pairs up with one of the aliens (and his "adorable" child) when the alien gives him hope that he can be cured.  It then becomes a bit of a buddy picture, with the two working together (for the most part) to solve both their problems--curing Wikus and repairing the aliens' ship.

The film is not very complimentary about how the humans treat the aliens--exploiting them for their weapons, bribing them with cat food (which seems to be an alien delicacy), and killing them thoughtlessly.  In essence, exactly how aliens would likely be treated if such events actually happened.  Whether its the white man and Native Americans, Nazis and Jews (and gays and Gypsies and the handicapped, etc.) or South Africans and unwanted aliens, it is not good public relations for the human race.

One thing that I didn't quite get in the film was that the the humans seemed to be able to understand what the aliens said, but they did not speak English. We see the subtitles when aliens talk, but the humans in the film seemed to comprehend them. Maybe I missed something. Let me know if you know how this was explained in the film.

I am giving this movie three sponges.  I would have given this movie four sponges for the original plot that was riveting and unpredictable and for very good special effects, but the violence just goes too far.  One particular bad guy just won't die no matter what happens and Wikus's character does a Sigourney Weaver move from Aliens as he becomes enveloped in a robot weapon.  I thought it was too much mayhem and a shoot em' up toward the end.  I don't mind violence, but it became cartoonish at a point, which wasn't necessary.  That being said, I would still recommend this highly as a rental, as it is now available on DVD.