District 9

Rating: 9.2/10

Genre: Sci Fi Action Drama

Overall value for money and time: 9.4/10

With this season seeing some of the greatest movies of all times, such as The Cove, Moon, and Up, it's difficult to say for sure which is the best. One thing for sure is that District 9 is my favourite.

There is no movie quite like District 9, it's reminiscence of the current trend in cinematographic techniques - mainly a documentary, hand-held like style. However, it's not entirely consistent throughout the movie, more so for the opening, and the ending. The plot is well developed and the appropriate use of the cinematography style and unknown casts added more credibility and realism to this movie.

20 years after a group of aliens named the "prawns" landed on earth and sought refuge in District 9, Johannesburg, they are forcibly evicted by a munition organisation called MNU (multi-national united). Wikus van der Merwe, the leader of the team and son-in-law of MNU's CEO, exposes himself to a strange alien liquid which gradually transforms him into a "prawn". Now, being hunted down by the very organisation he served for and the human African syndicate which operates inside District 9, he must find a way to save himself before he fully transforms into a "prawn".

Unlike most highly CGed movies, this movie is shot almost entirely in broad daylight, making the "prawns" look life-like, down to its very details. There is a considerable amount of gore in it, but not enough to put you off, and the acting of the casts were highly convincing. The only drawback about this movie is probably a handful of cheesy lines along the way, but apart from that, it's almost as flawless as it can get.

*Warning: Spoilers Ahead* Everything about the movie was well thought of, well planned, and well structured. While the movie might not have an unpredictable storyline, it sure doesnt have a cliffhanger ending. It is a rounded standalone movie even though it promises a sequel, without a doubt "District 10". The rationale of filming the movie on location at Johannesburg, South Africa was puzzling to me at first. But upon discussions with my friend, I realised that the reason for District 9 being in South Africa was to make it more believable for the cannibalism of the human African syndicate.

Basically, there was a 3 sided "warfare" between the "prawns", MNU and the African syndicate. Both human parties have one common goal, to capture Wikus so that they can make use of him to operate the alien ammunitions, which require alien DNA. With MNU wanting to cut him up, and the leader of the African syndicate wanting to consume him, Wikus has only 1 option to keep himself alive, seek refuge and help from the "prawn" leader, Christopher. It's not quite the "warfare" for the "prawns" as Christopher tries to make peace with both sides.

We are finally exposed to the "softer" side of aliens; whereby aliens have always been depicted as the villians and having all the state-of-the-art weaponry, this movie depicts the truth behind the egoistic reality of humanity. The "prawns" are equally as vulnerable as us humans and they are the victims in this movie. One of the puzzling parts of the movie is where I didn't understand why the "prawns" didn't just use all their powerful weapons to kill the humans that were hunting them down.

Then the sad hypothesis came to light: Christopher understands that they are the "intruders" of our planet and does not want bloodshed. All he wants is to peacefully bring his "people" back to the mothership and leave Earth. Despite being tortured and misunderstood, he holds true to his honor in silence. It just shows the magnamity of a true leader, and how the greed of humans is the actual cause of all the problems. One would not stand on the side of humans for long, as the movie gradually progresses, we are slowly exposed to the true villainy of human greed.

The ending packed a bang as well, showing our protagonist finally being more "prawn" than human. This movie is a true gem shadowed by its lack of media publicity. Therefore, I couldn't recommend it more to anyone and everyone out there to catch this movie at a cinema near you, before District 9 turns 10.