VERY Disturbing - Thought Provoking - Science Fiction at its BEST!

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2010)

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Disturbing - Thought-Provoking - Some of the BEST Science Fiction I Have Ever Seen!!, June 9, 2010
District 9, science-fiction at its absolute BEST, revolves around the attempts to relocate aliens, currently living in slum conditions in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a more suitable place - living alongside humans has obviously deteriorated. A bureaucrat,Wikus, appointed by his father-in-law, is tapped to lead the relocation efforts. Unfortunately, in the process, he becomes infected with the DNA of the aliens. (oh you KNOW the South African government has been performing "tests" to study the aliens!) Of course, Wikus will eventually turn into one of the aliens and the government wants/needs to "harvest" his body parts all, of course, for the sake of science.
The movie is intense, gritty, and disgusting. It pretty much evokes the same emotions in the viewer which is where the power of the movie lies. It takes the viewer on a VERY uncomfortable review of one's own biases/prejudices/apprehensions. In the beginning I was horrified watching the amount of firepower humans enlisted to implement the relocation policy thus making me dislike Wikus almost immediately - especially since he benefited (for lack of a better word) solely because of nepotism. I was immediately moved to support the aliens but, GEEZ, they're so ugly!!! Then Wikus becomes infected, becoming of intense interest to the South African scientific community, and becomes the hunted rather than the hunter. Now Wikus is as sympathetic as the aliens and thank god, not NEARLY so ugly.
It was INDEED startling to be reduced to making assumptions about someone SOLELY on the basis of how they looked. The aliens here are quite intelligent. Moreover, they only want to get back to their own planet and have no ill-will toward humans, unless, of course, provoked. So in most cases they do NOT deserve the inhuman (no pun intended) treatment they are often subjected to.
Their just god-awful ugly!! And it is disconcerting to have to admit AND deal with this. Compound this with a language barrier and we find ourselves looking at some very similar situations we find ourselves in in our everyday lives.
The special effects are mind-boggling and the interactions between aliens and humans recalls social conditions we are all entirely too familiar with. Yes, it uncomfortably evokes the reasonings behind immigration, integration, segregation, minorities, cultures/situations we are unfamiliar with, and forces us to take an historical perspective of just how well (or how badly) we have dealt with similar situations.
The movie is fast-paced, action-packed, gross, poignant, revolting, and THOROUGHLY entertaining. It is reminiscent of the best that the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits had to offer and quite frankly, trying to categorize the movie not only is difficult but ultimately unfair.
Hands down - one of the BEST movies of ANY genre I have ever seen.
Oooooooh yeah.....I INDEED recommend!