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So far this summer, I have not seen very many movies that I felt compelled to post a blog review about- Transformers was an expected disappointment, Harry Potter was more of the same, and Julie and Julia was heartwarming, but not stunning (and these were just the movies I was eager to see). District 9 changed all that.

Before you read my review (warning, may contain spoilers, but i’ll do my best not to), let me just sum it up: GO SEE DISTRICT 9!

I was surprised that Jaci was eager to see this movie as well. Neither of us had really any idea what the movie was about, but we had both seen trailers, and Jaci was pulled in when the alien behind the desk pleaded with his human interrogator- “we just want to go home”. This movie was not your typical aliens invade the earth and humans must do their best to survive type movie- this was going to be something important. The trailer from YouTube (in case you haven’t seen it) is next:

Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp stun you with this movie. It is set in the documentary style, where the actors acknowledge and interact with the camera, but the camera-man is non-existent or omniscient/omnipresent, and has views from unexpected locations. Security camera footage, expert interviews, and news footage are also major parts of the filmography, which give it a distinctly low-budget look. In fact, the movie’s 30 million dollar budget pales in comparison to Transformer’s 147 million- but don’t be fooled- the special effects in the movie are brilliant, and the look gives a disturbing realism to the whole drama.

In fact- disturbing realism is a simplistic way to describe the movie. Set in the not-so distant future, aliens have landed in Johannesburg, South Africa… by accident. Some catastrophe has caused the ship to become disabled, and the aliens are essentially refugees from another world. With nothing else to do with them, they are landed in District 9- a ghetto that is bound not just by an iron curtain of barbed wire and pseudo-military forces, but also by bureaucratic red tape and UN legislation. Unfortunately, however, no government is willing or able to take responsibility for the aliens, so they come under the management of MNU- a multi-national corporation whose main goal is to exploit alien technology. For 20 years, they live in this slum, with a quickly degrading status-quo.

The movie has two ‘heros’- a human named Wikus van der Merwe and an alien, ironically named Chris Johnson (reminiscent of the Ellis Island renaming of American immigrants). But both characters you would easily pass on if not for the amount of hardship they endure. In fact, both characters are not so much unlikable as they are despicable, and you only root for them because they are not the worst. Wikus is a bureaucrat in MNU who is promoted at the beginning of the movie simply because no one else wants the job. His entire motivation throughout the movie is to get people to like him- he almost reminds me of Steve Carell in The Office. He is a selfish, yet ambitious middle manager whose claim to fame is his marriage to the boss’ daughter. Throughout the movie he goes through a series of challenges that reveal he is not inherently heroic, quite the opposite, in fact, yet he finally manages one selfless act near the end when really he has no other choice.

Chris Johnson on the other hand is not a leader, or a hero in any sense. His main motivation is basically biological- the protection of his offspring. Yet he is cast as the likely savior of his people. He cannot make choices on his own, and seems to follow Wikus like a dog throughout the movie- an ugly, hairless Chewbacca that eventually betrays Han Solo. Perhaps it is because we don’t understand the alien culture, or perhaps because Chris Johnson only realizes the big picture towards the end of the movie- but in the end we root for him because there is no one else to root for.

But these despicable heroes are products of the world that Blomkamp creates for us- a world that disturbs us because we realize how true it is. The slum is completely human, and we are so ashamed of ourselves that we have to identify with the Wikus and Chris Johnson Characters. They are desperate, they are dirty, and we realize how easy it would be for us to find ourselves in their position. We are desperate for them to become justified in some way, and even though their actions make us cringe at every turn, they always entertain the possibility of redemption. The movie evokes these strong emotional reactions throughout the movie- it is stunning both visually and emotionally. A must see!