Movie Time: District 9

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and, on that note, let's have some bloody, gory, alien slaughtering, mmkay?

I watched District 9 last night. Now, the first thing that struck me about this movie (besides the creepy-crawly look of the aliens) was the documentary feel of it. Combine that with the location (Johannesburg, South Africa) and I knew exactly what the message of this movie was going to be about. (My boyfriend, who has not taken a course in African Lit, did not.)

But first, the summary. Basically, an alien ship hovers above Johannesburg, South Africa. Humans go in after months of inactivity and find an alien race. It's obvious that these aliens must be a caste of workers, for they lack leadership skills of any kind. Soon, they become more of a nuisance than a novelty and the humans want them moved from their slum-like dwellings in District 9, to a new, far away District 10.

Wikus, an Multi-National United employee, is charged with evicting the aliens, but is really there to confiscate alien weaponry. During the process, he discovers a cylindrical object which, after he tampers with it, squirts him in the face with a black liquid. Wikus becomes very ill and then finds that his arm has mutated to resemble a prawns. MNU then forces him to test alien weaponry, which has thus far been unresponsive to humans. With his new, combined DNA he is able to operate the weaponry. After several successful trials, MNU decides that his DNA is extremely valuable and decides to donate his body to the cause. (I thought it was hilarious that his father-in-law is one of the head honchos at MNU and makes that decision.) Wikus escapes and hides in District 9.

There he encounters Christopher Johnson, the alien responsible for creating the cylinder. Wikus learns that the only hope he has of reverting to his human form is to retrieve the cylinder (which contains an alien fuel) from MNU. Johnson reluctantly agrees to help Wikus and promises to help him get back to his human self.

You'd think it would be predictable from that point on, wouldn't you? Alien and human form a friendship that defies the social norm, but Wikus isn't as admirable a hero as that. He's in it for himself to the point where he abandons Christopher to MNU soldiers and steals Christopher's ship. Which, you must admit, is a heck of a lot more realistic considering the attitude toward Prawns.

My boyfriend wanted to shut this movie off about halfway through. Admittedly, it is slow. There are parts that are downright crude or nonsensical, but I still wanted to watch. Because if you know anything of South Africa's racial problems, then this had a deeper meaning than just grotesque aliens and bloody battles. And Wikus, the supposed hero, demonstrates this with a blase attitude, which speaks more than any true documentary could.

Would I recommend watching this? Yes. But, in order to enjoy it, you're going to have to look beyond the limb-severing and lewd commentary (unless that's what you're into), because the message to this movies lies beneath the sci-fi action and battles, and should be transported to real life.

Memorable Quotation:

Automated MNU Instructional Voice: [in MNU Humvee] When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm. And always remember that a smile is cheaper than a bullet.