I'm an Alien. I'm a legal Alien... I'm a Prawn in Jo'Burg!

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2009)

Although seemingly quite the hype in the rest of the world, "District 9" got unleashed into theaters in my country without much publicity or commotion. It's only playing in cinemas with the largest number of screens and if I hadn't coincidentally checked what was playing in theaters this week, maybe I would have missed it completely. I've read in the trivia section that the American marketing campaign included interactive posters with phone numbers that upset citizens could call, but here in Belgium there weren't even any trailers. Too bad, actually, because "District 9" is an imaginative low-budget movie that for once really deserves to lure as many curious film fanatics to cinemas. Unlike other over-hyped blockbusters of this type, like for example "Cloverfield", this film contains a large amount of genuinely ingenious ideas and a truckload of very effective social commentary. "District 9" differs immensely from the average type of alien invasion movies and is actually more of a pitch-black comedy slash political satire instead of a Sci-Fi. The coolest and most inventive aspect about the entire concept already comes at the beginning, with the arrival of a mysterious spaceship on earth, but not in New York or Paris or any major Western city, but above the 'crime capital of the world' Johannesburg in South Africa of all places! After nearly twenty years of silence and no attempt of the aliens to seek contact, soldiers eventually break into the spacecraft and discover a severely weakened race of aliens they baptize Prawns because of their hideous appearances. The South African government is now "stuck" with the aliens, and since they're unable to integrate in society, they put them into a township called District 9. Today, in the year 2010, ambitious social worker Wikus Van Der Merwe is assigned to finally evict all the Prawns one by one, but during his round he accidentally comes into contact with an alien liquid and gradually turns into a prawn himself. Now fleeing from his own government, since he has become an eagerly wanted study object all of a sudden, Wikus discovers that human never had any good intentions with the Prawns and simply wanted to dissect and study them and obtain accessibility to their powerful weapons.
Particularly the first half of "District 9" is downright brilliant and jaw-dropping original, because writer/director Neill Blomkamp fantastically illustrates the South African living conditions of poor people. I've spent two months in that country myself (though in Cape Town and not Johannesburg) and can actually confirm that these Townships are disastrous places where often two million people live together on a couple of square kilometers, in terribly ramshackle cabins with barely any running water. These places gradually sew despair and they are breeding grounds for criminal gangs. The alien intruders in Blomkamp's are actually just oppressed South African people; locked away in townships and given the negative image of being a "financial burden" to bear by the rest of the country's population. Blomkamp's film, in documentary style with interviews and seemingly live action reporting, is masterfully compelling and – even with the implausible premise of alien intruders – feels incredibly authentic. The second half of "District 9" is a lot less interesting, since the script reverts to violent shoot-outs and rather indigestible sentimental plot lines. The infected Wikus teams up with the most intelligent member of the Prawn species to fix the spacecraft and find an antidote for Wikus' deteriorating condition. The subtle social criticism gradually vanishes during this second half, as there are a lot of agitated confrontations with military forces and Nigerian crime syndicates. In spite of the relatively low budget of $30 million, the film has amazing special effects and make-up art. The unknown cast does a terrific job and the overall tone of the film – in spite of the harsh political topics – is spirited and energetic. Can't wait to see what Blomkamp does next, whether or not with the welcome help of producer Peter Jackson.