Alliance Command

Stepping into the theatre for District 9, I thought the film would serve up an original classic – it came close. The trailer built interest without giving away too much true plot. Beginning from the perspective of a documentary being shot at Multinational United (MNU) headquarters (security force/weapons developer), the movie catapults you into the area of Johannesburg, South Africa zoned for aliens called District 9.

Sharlto Copley is great as the main character Wikus Van De Merwe. He’s the MNU administrator promoted to the job of evicted the 1 million plus aliens 200 kilometers away from the city after riots between humans and non-humans erupt. Copley rambles around the ghetto of District 9 like he’s on a fifth grade field trip to the San Diego zoo. After accidentally stumbling upon a super alien secret, Copley’s life changes and he becomes the most wanted fugitive in the world.

Without giving away spoilers, I’ll just say the movie goes from an Alien version of the The Office to include a back story mixture of The Fly. The pacing of the movie slows at certain points as the stakes and motivation of the film are brought forth. Most interestingly, District 9 sets up a sequel almost perfectly where the potential for a much broader conflict between humans and non-humans is obvious. If director Neill Blomkamp decides to bring us a District 10, be sure we’d get to see more futuristic alien firepower in a face-off of galactic proportions. If you like science-fiction at all, this movie is a must see.

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