District 9

DISTRICT 9 (2009) - Aug. 15, 2009
A really interesting and well made sci-fi film about a group of aliens who are stuck in South Africa -- their ship just appeared there one day, and twenty years later they're still being forced to live in a shanty town and being treated like second-class citizens. The film eventually becomes about a hapless government worker who gets infected with an alien virus, and who winds up forming an unlikely alliance with one of the aliens (or "prawns", as the South Africans call them). The film starts off as a faux-documentary, outlining the general situation with the aliens and the corporation that seems to have complete control over them, but then gradually adopts a more traditional narrative. This transition is actually fairly seamless, though my interest did wane ever-so-slightly at first when the focus shifted entirely to the imperiled government worker. The film eventually becomes an all-out action film, and a pretty awesome one at that, with some surprisingly exciting action sequences. The last little bit becomes quite tense, as we wonder if the government worker and his prawn sidekick will be able to pull off their scheme to help out the aliens once and for all. ***1/2