Peter Jackson Presents District 9

When I walked into the theater to see District 9, I had no idea what to expect. The trailers I had seen gave nothing away short of the fact aliens would somehow be involved so as far as the synopsis goes, I had no clue. In all honesty, I wasn't sure whether to expect a multi-million dollar Peter Jackson epic or another sci-fi hunk of crap a la Contact (1997). What I got was a little bit of both.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp, District 9 is somewhat a cross between producer Peter Jackson's terrifically terrible 80's alien b-flick Bad Taste and the Hollywood blockbuster Independence Day (1996). Technology has obviously come a long way over the last fifteen years or so, and its quite apparent even within the first few moments of the film.

The movie begins as Multinational Union (MNU) journalist Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) documents a government program aimed to evict residents of District 9, a slum village of Johannesburg, South Africa. Inhabited by scavenger aliens and crimelord Nigerians, the aliens - referred to derogatorily as "prawns" due to their bottom-feeding lifestyle and shrimplike appearance - are being forced to move into District 10, which is somewhat of a concentration camp intended to bring separation between prawns and humans.

While depicting the events, Wikus is unassumingly sprayed with a foreign liquid which begins to mutate him into alien form. Upon finding his alien hand has the ability to operate biotechnological alien weaponry, the MNU becomes determined upon capturing him in order to perform fatal experimentation. As he desperately tries to escape, Wikus eventually befriends a scientist prawn Christopher Johnson, and the two are forced to work together to not only turn Wikus back to complete human form but also to get Christopher, his son and the rest of the aliens back to thier home planet.

Throughout the journey, the film is indeed packed to the brim with sci-fi armament, explosive animated gore, and no shortage of expletives. Running at almost two hours, the film actually doesn't give viewers the chance to be bored. Once the premise is established, there is nary an instance of downtime in terms of an underlying plotline or sappy love story.

That said, there are a fair share of cheesy aspects of the film, often making it seem to be somewhat of a satirical parody of itself. To that point, it appears as though there was no mistake made by producers in regard to keeping viewers in the dark as to what District 9 is actually about.

While there may not be any Oscar nominees in this movie, I really can't complain about the acting. The passionate determination portrayed by Copley was applaudable as he convincingly captured the strength and declination of the human mind in events of desperation. In regard to production, however, District 9 spares no expense. Among the incredibly detailed aliens, space ships, weapons, and landscapes, the special effects were truly a sight to behold.

If alien encounters presented in the form of Transformers-like special effects is your bag, this movie is definitely for you. If you're someone who appreciates more substance than style like myself, the mightily ridiculous plotline leaves much to be desired and warrants not much better than a spot in your Netflix queue. Either way, I'd concede to say that it is worth seeing at least once.