What Happens When Aliens Live Among Us? - "District 9" Movie Review

In "District 9", an alien spaceship has come to rest over Johannesburg, South Africa. After an extended period of time waiting for something to happen which never does, the government decides to drill into the spaceship to try and make "first contact". In doing so, they discover that the aliens are malnourished and without a way to go home. The government decides to build a camp for the aliens, known as District 9, to house the aliens until they decide a better course of action. After 20 years, the citizens of Johannesburg have had enough of the aliens and want them moved. It becomes the charge of MNU (Multi-National United) to move them to a new home, 200km outside of Johannesburg. This is when the main story line of the movie takes place.

Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is given the assignment of leading the task force to give eviction notices to all of the aliens (derogatorily known as "prawns" for both looking like prawns from the sea and also for being bottom-feeders). In the process, Wikus becomes exposed to an alien chemical and begins a transformation. The plot of the movie then centers around Wikus trying to reverse this transformation versus MNU trying to stop Wikus from doing so.

"District 9" brings to light a couple of moral dilemmas faced by the characters. The first, and much more subtle situation is a couple references to "human rights organizations" and their role in the situation in South Africa. They claim that some of the living conditions of the prawns are "human rights violations" and that the process of moving the aliens must be done in accordance to the code of "human rights". This brings about the question of whether or not a species of beings such as the "prawns" actually have rights, and whether or not they are equal to or better than those of human beings. Can an alien really have human rights?

The second and most-important moral issue raised in the film is at what cost is one willing to stand behind his or her own set of ethical rights. Is there a point where the negative impacts of standing firm in your beliefs is too much, causing you to go against them? Wikus is faced with exactly this sort of dilemma, when he must decide whether or not to help Christopher Johnson (the main alien in the movie), and in the process risk possible harm upon the human race.

Where "District 9" really excels is in creating characters that you feel emotional attached to. As the viewer, you may start to care for Wikus and Christopher, and become enthralled in their plight to help each other. When the moral dilemmas are raised, as the viewer you too begin to ask yourself the same questions. Another success in this film is the use of a different filming technique. For almost the first 45 minutes of the film, and then again at various points throughout the conclusion of the film, the story is told through interviews from after the events that the plot of the film depicts as well as video footage leading up to the actual exposure of Wikus to the chemical. In doing this, you are able to get a clearer picture of the back story of the characters and events that are about to occur.

"District 9" does have a couple flaws though. Although the filming techniques are new and unique, when the first 45 minutes pass and you are back to following the main characters without the emphasis on security footage, you have to ask yourself, where does this footage come from? Is this what really happened to Wikus (because we can't be completely sure as we can be with the home footage style of Wikus and MNU in the beginning)? Another spot that creates some confusion is in the decisions behind some of the characters actions. At times, they rapidly change their minds on huge issues with little hint as to why they did. For example, after the transformation begins, Wikus's wife calls him and essentially tells him she cannot love him anymore. Then, in the next scene, she's calling again and telling him how much she still loves him. In addition, up until a certain point, Wikus is all about saving himself, and then all of a sudden becomes self-sacrificing, and it is unclear where this transformation came from.

However, as with many good films, these flaws become minor and can be over-looked in the grand scheme of the movie. As a whole, "District 9" is a great film, not just a great science-fiction film. It is action-packed, but also delivers a great story which raises many questions in the viewers. A movie I would highly recommend seeing.

Grade: A
Kolin Kasten is a graduate of St. Norbert College with a Bachelor's Degree in English. He is a freelance writer who also works part-time for Monumental Films, a Wisconsin-based video business whose goal is to capture the important events in one's life on film. To learn more, please go to: http://www.monumentalfilms.net To view more of Kolin's articles, please visit his blog, at http://kkasten.wordpress.com

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