Raptor Visits District 9

The first Peter Jackson movie I ever watched was Dead Alive when I didn’t even know who he was. Well he didn’t direct District 9 but it was his brain child to get it on screen with reasonably new director Neil Blomkamp. Blomkamps first short film, Alive in Joburg, was the inspiration for District 9. He has done a surprisingly good job of directing here. The screen play is tight and the pacing doesn’t lag at all especially once the things begin to heat up and he manages to get a lot out of performances of a relatively low key cast.

I told you to go before we left!

The premises of District 9 is that an alien ship arrives in Johannesburg, South Africa and they find the worker aliens to aboard to be in a bad state of malnourishment and without leaders. The aliens are processed and placed in a slum called District 9 and looked after the MNU corporation. Enter Wicus Van De Merwe played by first time actor Sharlto Copley who is put in charge to relocate the aliens to a nicer cleaner District 10. While his group are serving out the papers he comes across a flask with a liquid in it and accidentally sprays it on himself. This starts his transformation into an alien and a really bad week. Along the way he discovers what the MNUs real interests are invested in alien weaponry and bio technology, which they haven’t been able use yet, and that one of the aliens may be able to help him get back to being a human in a trade to allow the aliens to leave Earth.

For a first time actor Sharlto Copley plays Wicus to a T. He portrays him as a rather enthusiastic and naïve individual who’s well meaning intentions are based on human prejudices towards the aliens and treats them more like intelligent animals rather and advanced race. Little things like calling them “prawns” due to their resemblance and even “exterminating” a cache of alien eggs and the referring to the popping sound they make when set on fire suggest a blasé attitude to creatures. The movie itself doesn’t make any excuse about being an apartheid piece, I mean set south Africa with aliens segregated from, I’m pretty sure that’s blatantly obvious enough for everyone.

Yes, no Michael Jacksons. Gasp!

The locals and gangs are now taking advantage of the aliens as well which is an interesting juxtaposition that suggests that there is always someone praying on the weaker even if things change. Alien sex with whores and buying their alien technology for cat food (It’s like cocaine to them) are just some of the schemes but also more sinister machinations of Voodoo cannibalism of the aliens to gain their powers.

There are some plot holes that can be overlooked, such as, where is the rest of the world? I mean if aliens came to Earth you would have scientists from everywhere looking into this not to mention all the major countries involvements. Overall these can be overlooked.  The SFX are fantastic, the aliens are CGI generated as is the awesome mech suit Wicus hops into at the end. Pew pew anybody?  For those looking for exploding humans and aliens there is plenty of that with a great fight scene at the end.

Hello Sir. Have you seen an anyone who is 7ft tall, looks like a prawn and can't speak English?

This movie is an action think piece with a lot of humour thrown in to boot. You can walk away from it thinking man, humans are bastards or I can see their point or just walk away thinking “Wo awesome dude” but you will walk away thinking about the movie which in my mind makes it great. I give this one 8.5/10 for sheer alien in the eye action.