At first glance, potential filmgoers might rush to the conclusion that “District 9” is just another fiction flick that’ll leave viewers bored and completely unmoved. If this is what you think, you’ve got another thing coming. “District” is probably one of the most intense, epic science fiction films since “The Lord of the Rings.” Neill Blomkamp
has surfaced as a mastermind director to create this electrifying thriller.

Thirty years ago an alien race landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since then, they have occupied a space known only as district 9. Multinational United worker Wikus Van Der Merwe (Sharlto Copely) is placed in charge of moving the aliens from district 9 to district 10. While evicting them from their homes, he must go through the process of searching each house for any trace of illegal activity. During one of these inspections, Wikus comes across a vial containing a black substance which he accidentally sprays into his face. After only a matter of hours, he begins to morph into an alien. To avoid being held against his will by the government and used as a weapon against the aliens, Wikus sides with an alien named Christopher, who plans to use the mysterious vial to reactivate the mother ship in order to return back to their home planet. Realizing that his only hope of being returned to normal lies in the claws of Christopher, Wikus does everything he can to ensure Christopher’s plan works.

“District 9” is crafted in such a way that it captures a genuine portrayal of each character’s role in the film, and allows the audience to develop a sort of relationship
with the characters. It creates a connection that carries the audience through the action in the film. Given the films documentary-
like approach to telling its story, each detail is accurately explained so the audience will be riding along with all of the action and will not miss a thing.

The aliens are, in a way, portrayed as an inferior race, thrust into their own sort of concentration camp to mull around in the junk accumulated by the humans, and to abide by certain rules and regulations in order to prevent any uneasiness among the people.

These aliens, called “prawns” (a slur used to describe the bottom feeders the aliens act like), are also depicted to be a threat to society, and thus wrongfully treated with animosity and are subject to use for military experimentation, without consent, agreement or even acknowledgment from the aliens.

This is a film about the portrayal of the overexertion of authority in certain situations where those who hold power wrongly use it against mankind and in effect create chaos, rather than control. When in the presence of a foreign race, humans possess fear due to a lack of knowledge of the extent and intendments of certain actions enforced by the foreign race.

Humans have a tendency to use animosity and ferocity to control those situations which they do not understand; they act without further research of that which is required of them to attain adequate control, and what consequences will exist for their actions. These humans seek defense mechanisms which are used unjustly and unnecessarily against the foreign race and, in effect, destroy peace and create uproars among the races.

They attempt to take over or keep their place in society, and in some way prove that they are superior and all other alien forms are inferior, when in fact they are a completely bionic commodious specimen of a completely unknown commodity of existence.

Going into this film one might expect a typical sci-fi action film without any thought behind it, but “District” proves that it’s as smart as any film released this year and has quite a bit to say about the world we live in.