Alien movie that thinks outside the box

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2009)

Director/writer Neil Blomkamp and Producer Peter Jackson have come up with an interesting addition to the "Alien v human" genre. Helpless aliens were found on a ship hovering over Johannesburg. They weren't hostile and were housed in a ghetto (District 9) for twenty years. However their numbers have now increased and relations with humans have got worse. It has been decided to move them to a purpose built ghetto, further away form the city. A multi national corporation that just happens to make weapons has been hired to ensure the move goes off smoothly. We meet the not very pleasant Wikus Van De Merwe, whose job it is to get the aliens to sign the move agreement by hook or by crook. During this chaotic process Pontus accidentally comes into contact with alien DNA. Soon he starts to notice physical changes to his body. His employers notice this too. They have been trying for years to make the powerful alien weaponry work. However it only operates when in contact with alien DNA. Having established that their employees DNA is changing to part alien this is an opportunity too good to miss. The brutal initial tests are successful and they decide to "harvest" Van De Merwe's DNA before he dies. However he escapes and goes on the run. His metamorphosis continues and he heads to District 9 where he hopes he will be harder to find. Here he meets up with an alien and his son who he "met" during the moving process. It turns this alien has moving plans of his own but needs Van De Merwe's help. The movie has a lot of breathless chase sequences but is also quite moving in parts as we have sympathy with the alien and his son and with Van De Merwe and his wife and their lives fall apart. The film threatened to lose momentum half way through but recovered well for an excellent closing sequence. The special effects are very good. The human/alien interaction is excellent and Van De Merwe's gradual gruesome transformation in suitably unsettling. The plot is a tad far fetched at times but this is only to be expected in a film of this kind. The fast pace of the film doesn't lend itself to great displays of acting but Sharlto Copley as Van De Merwe is very good in the main role as the man whose life and body are falling apart. This is South Africa's most successful film ever and deserves all the acclaim it has received.