Set in Johannesburg, either in the present day or the not too distant future, District 9 is about the aftermath of the arrival of aliens. The race, known as the prawns, arrived on Earth in a mothership, which came to a stop over Johannesburg and stayed there, without moving, for three months until the ship was cut open to reveal a large number of malnourished, leaderless aliens. The aliens were given a temporary home, which became a shanty town for the aliens. Gangs seized on the opportunities that arose, creating new crime, and people became more and more scared of the aliens, until eventually it is decided that they must be relocated outside of Johannesburg. While searching one of the shacks for illegal weapons, Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), finds a device, which sprays him with a strange black fluid. Not long after he starts noticing some strange effects, as alien DNA starts to transform him.
There are a lot of things I could say about this film, and it's difficult to know where to start. Firstly, the film is a good science fiction movie. It doesn't explain any of the technology, but while some of it seems outlandish, none of it seems completely implausible. Often the most difficult thing to believe is that the aliens could have made their technology on Earth with their obviously limited resources, and with what is known (or at least assumed) about their societal structure. The aliens are sufficiently alien to seem different and almost terrifying to us. However, they are bipedal humanoids with a similar facial structure, so they have enough in common to be sympathetic characters when the plot requires it.
One of the things I liked, from the science fiction points of view, is that the aliens cannot speak English, and the humans cannot speak their language; both have learned to understand the other, but they lack the vocal devices to produce the alien sounds.
At times the film leaves science fiction in all but weaponry and make-up and becomes an excellent action movie. It is often very gory. In a way this makes it more effective on a visceral level, but in other ways I found it unpleasant and at times it made watching difficult. I wouldn't recommend this films for the faint-hearted, and as one of my friends warned me, I wouldn't take snacks. There are some very good action sequences and fight scenes. The character of Wikus gradually grows throughout the film from slightly gawky bureaucrat to the action hero victim and there is some brilliant acting along the way. The difference between the man that laughs as he finds and aborts a nest of alien eggs, and the person he becomes at the end of the film is marked, and each step of the transition is very well performed.
The film also has a significant social message. It carries many themes, the most noticeable being xenophobia. Setting this film in South Africa was quite brave, almost providing commentary on some of the actual events that occurred in that part of the world. The film manages to evoke considerable sympathy for the aliens, while in places still revealing an understandable human point of view. The message was thought-provoking, but I don't think it over-laboured its points, and it was all the more powerful because it didn't spoon on its social messages. They are there, but the plot is more important, which allows the film to be an entertaining science-fiction/horror movie whilst still exploring some difficult issues.
From start to finish, I think District 9 was a very good film. It was gory, which might put me off watching it again in the immediate future, but it was also very interesting. The science-fiction elements were not as well conceived as some of the societal themes, but it was still a very good science fiction movie. I am not sure I could call it a brilliant movie, but it is a film I might recommend everyone (with a sufficiently strong stomach) see at least once.
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