Science fiction meets humanitarianism.
The film revolves around a man who unwittingly becomes the centrespot of an alien relocation program. 20 years back an alien ship came and just sort of hung over the city of Johannesburg (a refreshing change from the usual target New York). Humans, pokey as we are, probed into the ship and found malnourished and rotting aliens inside. A million of them. A district was created for them to live in, but it was poorly funded and turned into a slum. Complete with riots, gangs, black gangs and warlords.
The aliens, referred to offensively as prawns, were becoming difficult to contain, and so the big evil corporation handling the issue, conveniently named Multi National United (MNU) (UN reference?) decided to relocate them. MNU, by the way, is also the word`s largest weapons manufacturer. But they require the aliens consent to do so. So the head of MNU, assigns his overeager son-in-law, Wikus van der Merwe (from his accent I`d say he was Irish-Australian), a simple and honest guy, to go around in the dangerous District 9 to collect the signatures of the aliens. Little does he know what lies ahead.
He becomes part of an alien`s plan to escape, unknowingly confiscating the all powerful fluid that the alien had collected over 20 years. He gets sprayed by this fluid in the process, which begins his slow and painful conversion into a prawn. As he is hunted by dollar hungry scientists who want to sell his parts for experimentation, he ironically finds shelter under the roof of the very alien he was trying to evict. They must now get the fluid back from the clutches of the MNU, which is after them with all their might.
The main character, Wikus, played brilliantly by Sharlto Copley, is a typical victimised hero running from the big corporation, trying to reach out to his love, who is fed lies by her father. The prawn, named Christopher by Wikus, is also a creature one grows to identify with, who tries to save his people, the aliens, from rampant massacre by the scientists trying to de-code their genetics. His association with his son gives the viewer more reason to sympathise with him.
The film is well shot, with many elements that engage the audience. The whole narration is in retrospect, with experts narrating the story as if it were a documentary on the whole incident. They add their own comments to the narrative, a convenient medium used by the makers to give information to the viewer. Like the fact that the MNU was evicting the aliens only to be able to raid their homes and get their hands on their advanced weapons. Which they do, but to their dismay, the weapons recognise DNA of the holder, so can only be fired by a prawn.
Another element that is usually not found alien films is the perspective of the alien. They almost make you sympathise with the prawns, cursing the do-gooder MNU for forcing them out.
However (Spoiler alert) the part I liked most was the conclusion, or rather, the lack of it. It was reflective of the real world handling of such issues. The big corporations get their way by sheer brute force, neglecting the very banner they hide behind, humanity. And everyone is left wondering whether it is a victory they should be celebrating or not.
Imdb rating - 8.4. Top 250 - #93.
Worth a watch.
