Alien Immigrants (District 9 (DVD))

Member Name: cyberem78

Product:	District 9 (DVD)
Date:	05/09/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original, clever.

Disadvantages: Lots of swearing. Very violent.

I was compelled to see this movie after hearing and reading nothing else but raving reviews about it. This movie is currently showing at cinemas nationwide and newspaper film critcs are awarding this six stars out of five, internet message boards are teeming with messages saying this is the most awesome film ever, reviews are full of praise for the film and say it's the most original sci-fi since 1979's 'Alien'. So could this movie really live up to the hype?

The story is relayed in a documentary style exposition of events that have recently occurred. Actors whose style is so natural and easy that you'd think they were just 'normal' people being interviewed, tease us with ambiguous comments about a man named Wikus and his questionable actions. Through the commentary we learn that aliens arrived on planet Earth more than twenty years ago. A space-craft entered the atmosphere and headed to the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, hovering above the urban core until frightened humans decided to cut the ship open to see what was inside. After discovering a community of sick and stupified aliens, humans placed them inside a sort of reservation where they could survive.

When we join the movie the characters involved are all extremely used to the fact that aliens are living on Earth. They are infact intolerant of the aliens, whose mode of living is impossible to comprehend. The aliens, now rudely labelled as 'prawns', seem to live as though they enjoy trash and dirtiness. They eat catfood and sell weapons for skinned horses heads to gangsters. To control the situation a large company MNU step in to relocate the aliens to another area named District 10. Wickus is in charge of the operation and enters the camp to evict every family there.

Wickus is a weak and geeky man who whilst not full of hate towards the aliens is rather dismissive of them. When one of the child aliens gets under his feet his comment "where is the little rat?" is a throwaway line which underpins how Wikus thinks and feels about the creatures. His behaviour echoes how many people today really feel and think about immigrants to their country. It is a clever way of making an audience reassess our opinions and address racism and xenophobia since audience sympathies lie exclusively with the aliens.

Wickus subsequent relationship and dependancy to the aliens changes who he is as a person. Watching Wikus journey it is clear he does not even realize himself that he is overturning his racist attitude. The story is a meaningful one and the outcome of the movie is a dedication to goodness that is inside the human heart.

The special effects are amazing and at no point did I ever think "that looks phoney" about a CGI effect. The aliens have a look of doctor Who's The 'Ood' about them but are totally realistic in movement and speech. Their battle weapons and robot machines borrow from the Terminator franchise and from Transformers but this seems more like a tribute rather than a steal! Most of all this movie is reminiscent of 'Alien' (1979) with the dark, gritty landscapes, the level of slime and dirty metal overwhelming the senses.

The second half of the movie is almost non-stop gunfire and bloodbaths. There is a lot of gore and violence and I lost count of the amount of times the lead character says the 'f' word - his overuse of the word becomes almost amusing in the end. I did think the level of violence was out of proportion and a little bit like an obsessed kid was going mad on a computer war game.

I loved the fact that there were no huge movie stars in this film as it means we aren't distracted by good looks and try-hard acting. It feels very natural and real.

I thought this movie was really great although I think that some people might find it a tad too gory and too focused on war. If you liked 'Alien' then you will love this. If not the movie is still likeable and has an important message that everyone should understand. I'm awarding it 4/5 stars because I don't think it wows as much as the movie critics and hardcore sci-fi fanboys are saying it does. It is also a movie I wouldn't enjoy seeing many times as it's simply too violent.

Summary: A very good and original sci-fi with important themes.