In a surprising twist, District 9 turned out to be the biggest hit of the summer. While it didn't have an enormous budget, the brilliant marketing campaign crafted by the studio definitely stirred up a lot of interest for the movie. With large posters deeming certain areas in movie theaters and the San Diego Comic-Con "Restricted For Humans Only".
The movie's set-up isn't what you might expect from a story of aliens landing on Earth - it is in a documentary style, with the beginning of the movie having an assortment of people explain the events of
the past 28 years, when the aliens' mothership first landed on Earth. For three months, the ship hovered over Johannesburg, South Africa, until world governments dug into it and found over a million malnourished aliens, which were set up in "District 9" - a camp for the so-called "prawns" run by MNU (Multi-National United) which quickly became a slum.
However, the people of Johannesburg begin riots with the aliens, causing intervention from MNU. A plan to evict all 1.8 million prawns to "District 10", a similar camp 240 kilometres from the original, is set up, with main character Wikus van de Merwe leading the project. Him and a team of MNU agents go door-to-door, having the prawns "sign" an eviction notice.
While I won't divulge all of the plot details, I can tell you that the development team did a great job in making Wikus an interesting character despite being around the prawns - which were very interesting in their own right. It was easy to develop a sense of pity for the aliens, as they were forcefully evicted from their "homes" without an understanding of what was happening.
The treatment of the prawns by the entire human race serves as a metaphor of the treatment of African Americans during the Civil Rights movement, and the treatment of any group targeted by the world. Amazingly, the movie is heart-wrenching, and the humans' cruelty of the aliens exemplifies this.
And despite the somewhat small budget, the graphics were amazing. Closer to the end of the movie, we see plenty of firefights, with lots of interesting alien technology. While this does get rid of the "documentary" feel, it seems almost appropriate. If a sequel were to be made, it would certainly not be in documentary style.
Speaking of the sequel - before entering the movie, I had already heard people talking of a potential sequel. I dismissed it, because it seemed like the premise of the movie could not constitute a series, and also because most fans will ask for a sequel any time a movie is good, regardless of whether it could carry it. But after seeing the movie myself, I can certainly say that a sequel is not only possible, but probable.
SPOILER WARNING - - - At the end of the movie, it is revealed that Christopher Johnson, the MNU-given name of the protagonist alien, will be returning to his home planet for help before rescuing all of the aliens in District 9. This revelation occurs when he sees the horrific experiments MNU has performed on his race - this leads support to the idea the Christopher could return, but with an army of his brethren, and start a war on humanity. Looking at the alien technology seen in the movie, it seems they could easily win.
And where would that leave Wikus? At the end of the movie, he was seen fully transformed into a prawn, and is likely unable to change back to a human. Would he be a major character? Would any human be a protagonist? No matter the case, a "District 10" (a name idea for a sequel) would be much different from the original - the documentary style would have to be ditched to make room for a focus on sci-fi action. - - -
Critics have been raving about this film, specifically saying it is the best movie of the summer. I agree wholeheartedly; rarely do we see a film of this quality. If you haven't seen this yet, make the plans - this is the movie everyone will be talking about. 8.5/10
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