District 9 (2009)

Oh shiiiiit. Neill Blomkamp's first feature-length, District 9 envisions an alien landing that leads to segregation instead of invasion, with insect-like creatures stranded in Johannesburg, South Africa and forced into militarized slums so that humans don't have to interact much with them and their advanced weaponry can be studied. They're held there for 20 years before the government decides to move them to a more isolated location (District 10). Nerdy pencil pusher Wikus Van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is assigned to go through District 9 and get each alien ("prawn") to sign an eviction notice. While going through the area, he also investigates various shacks for weapons or other illegal items, and finds a mysterious canister that sprays a brown liquid into his face before having his arm broken by one of the prawns.

He shrugs it off but as time progresses he begins experiencing various sickening side effects, including fingernails popping off and vomiting black liquid. When doctors remove his arm wrappings, they discover it's turned into a prawn hand, and the transformation will slowly take over his body. Hoping to use this amalgamation of human and alien to utilize their weapons technology, government scientists hold Wikus for experimentation. He escapes and finds shelter in District 9 with Christopher Johnson, the alien to whom the brown liquid belonged, and the two reluctantly work together in an attempt to enact some changes in the status quo.

This movie is interesting in both its inventiveness as well as its intelligence. The story is told through a mix of documentary-style footage, interviews, news coverage, and more conventional shooting. There's a lot of hand-held camera work coupled with a gritty visual style and impressive special effects (especially considering its budget). It's very graphic (sometimes too much for squeamish me), which gives it an extremely personal feel. I felt like I was going through everything Wikus was going through, making it an intense experience that stuck with me after the movie ended. Copley's absolutely amazing performance contributed to this effect as well. The fact that he's not a professional actor boggles the mind. He is so goddamn good.

The story is well-paced and engaging, the dialogue is entertaining and not overly obvious. It's a metaphor for apartheid, you guys; but it isn't preachy. This is smart science-fiction, enthralling and scary and real. And awesome- besides lots of talking, it has explosions and crazy weapons and other exciting things, too! I hope this leads to a trend of similar efforts receiving mainstream attention. Like, imagine if Primer had been this popular?

4.5/5