A sharp science-fiction action movie

Rating: 9/10 (26 January 2019)

This review contains spoilers.
District 9 is a science-fiction action movie that premiered in 2009. The movie is directed by Neill Blomkamp and is written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell. The movie stars Sharlto Copley in the leading role. The movie is about an extraterrestrial spaceship that arrives outside Johannesburg. The movie focuses on Wikus van de Merwe played by Sharlto Copley that discovers something in the alien slums.
District 9 is a nice surprise. This movie presents science-fiction in an approachable way for mainstream audiences. There is also subtext in the imovie that can help audience's enjoyment of the movie. The movie's plot and direction move at a quick pace while also introducing important plot elements in the movie. All of this together makes for an enjoyable experience for the audience.
The main plot does focus on the lead of Wikus van de Merwe and Christopher Johnson, played by Jason Cope. This focus happens for the entire movie and is enjoyable to watch. Wikus goes through a drastic transformation across the 112 minute running time of this movie. It was great to see his humanization as the movie went on and he became more alien. Likewise Christopher started to care more about Wikus as time went on and the two can be seen coming to a respect for one another. The two are begrudgingly together and trying to solve their predicaments selfishly until they realized they needed to help each other. From the beginning until the end the movie's plot had me engrossed.
Another great part of this movie is the action. As a rarity in the science-fiction genre, the movie has many action scenes. This movie is gory, and visceral in the action scenes. The aliens have advanced weaponry that is authentically presented in the movie. I enjoyed this aspect of the movie as the weaponry is utterly remorseless in its depiction. This doubly goes for the brutality shown by aliens and humans. In addition to being cool to look at, the action drives the themes of the movie which is a great component in this movie. The brutality opens up the drama that is at the core of this movie.
District 9 does a good job balancing action, comedy, and drama. The movie balances all of these things even as the audience learns more about the world of District 9. Much of the movie
relies on the direction and acting. Both of these components are at a high standard and it makes the shocking parts of the movile more memorable. Sharlto Copley is in a panic mode for much of the movie and he balances this with his character's concerns well. He has a good balance between to self-preservation and helping the alien prawns. Likewise Christopher is mainly a voice in this movie and it really shows in his emotions. The two share a memorable emotional moment near the end of the movie.
I highly recommend 'District 9'. This movie had a surprising amount of drama for a science fiction movie. It is absolutely a great movie in 2009.
Grade: A