Twenty years ago, an alien ship "drops anchor" on the skies over Johannesburg, South Africa, its "prawns" population "settled" in a refugee camp called District 9. As the prawns go about their lives, humans learn to live with the million plus aliens in an uneasy status quo.
Cut to present day. This uneasy calm is ruptured. As riots erupt with humans demanding the aliens be shifted out away from the city, there also seems to be some other sinister agenda behind the government's tolerance of the prawns. Their unique weapons are biogenetically engineered such that in the hands of the humans, they simply do not work. Can the secrets be unlocked creating a multi-billion dollar opportunity? Is that when the private army, Multi-National United, is looking to do when they are contracted to forcibly evict the population with Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) in charge?
During the eviction operation, Wikus is exposed to a strange alien chemical that starts turning him into a prawn himself, and must rely on the help of his only two new prawn friends. Will he be able to help them retrieve the "fuel" necessary to fire up their mother ship to return to their own world? Will they be able to help him be human again?
The movie is sci-fi, but the emotions are terribly real. As you see the aliens helpless and exploited, covering in fear, you can't help but pity them and hope they win against us humans. You feel the desperation of the young kid, desperately searching for his father. You feel their helplessness and wish you would help.
Shot in a unique documentary mode at times, Sharlto Copley with his South African accent does a great job. This has all the makings of a good franchise, the possibilities are endless, and I look forward to a lot more from the prawns!
A must-see, as long as you can take the gore.
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