REVIEW: ‘District 9′

Let’s get this out of the way first: “District 9″ is the best science-fiction film I’ve seen in the last eight years, and easily on a short list of the best movies I’ve seen this year.

“District 9″ is shot as a documentary, talking about the botched migration of alien refugees to a part of South Africa further away from the city and residents of Johannesburg. When you read that last sentence, if you leave out the word “alien,” you can get a really good grasp of the tone of the film.

When the unnamed species arrived in the skies over J-Burg 28 years prior to the start of the film, the shock waves of first contact with a new species gives way to some stark realities. They don’t speak any Earthbound language, can’t leave Earth with their ship which now hovers over South Africa, and can’t be supported by their ship, so they’re forced to relocate to the ground. This leads to the nasty realities of confining one million beings in a refugee camp in close proximity to an urban center.

The “prawns,” as the aliens are derogatorily called, have had various run-ins with the locals over the last 30 years, and the company charged with dealing with the aliens are going to relocate the “prawns” to a new camp, further away from the humans and out of the watchful eye of the media. Our human protagonist, Wikus van der Merwe (played splendidly by newcomer Sharlto Copley), is in charge of the relocation. The “documentary crew” is filming the process of the relocation, and that’s where things really start to go wrong, for both the “prawns” and van der Merwe.

“District 9″ borrows from a few familiar themes – most notably “Alien Nation,” where stranded aliens are forced to live side-by-side with humans when their ship konks out over Los Angeles. Where “District 9″ tosses in a good twist is the company charged with dealing with the “prawns,” MultiNational Unified. They’re one of the largest arms manufactuers in the world, and they would love to figure out how to get the “prawn” weapon technology to work… except only the “prawns” can operate them. When an opportunity to make those weapons human-usable presents itself, there’s no length MNU won’t travel to exploit it, regardless of the cost.

This film does what the best science fiction does: uses an alien theme to hold up a mirror to unjustices and social inequality. The world of alien-occupied Johannesburg is so completely fleshed out that there’s no suspension of disbelief necessary, even in the face of distinctly alien cultures and habits.

Also, the digital effects are seamless. Unlike movies such as “G.I. Joe” and “Wolverine,” which spent five or more times the money to produce inferior products, Blomkamp and the geniuses at WETA have made a completely immersive environment, digital characters, and settings. It’s a visual feast.

There’s a lot I’m leaving out of the review, including a plot point that the movie hinges on from the second act on. It’s more than a little bit shocking, and ratchets up the stakes for everyone involved in the narrative.

Remember the way you felt when you went to see “The Matrix,” a movie you really didn’t know a lot about, by filmmakers you didn’t know? That’s the way I felt after seeing “District 9.” In a summer of sequels, remakes, and bloated tentpole releases, Neil Blomkamp has delivered something new and exciting.