The Prawns are Coming!: District 9

Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Starring Sharlto Copley, Vanessa Haywood, and Jason Cope

I got distracted reading the imdb boards while writing this post... *shakes fist angrily in the air*

SYNOPSIS: If you've somehow managed to avoid the buzz surrounding this film then here's a basic rundown. The film's protagonist is Wikus Van De Merwe, a South African bureaucrat. The film is set in Johannesburg sometime in the late eighties (which I actually didn't realize until after the film) and chronicles the arrival of alien beings, derogatorily dubbed "prawns." Wikus is an official whose task is to rehouse them, since the area they currently reside in has become a slum and the people of Johannesburg have rioted to remove them. It's shot in a documentary style format as the camera follows Wikus performing his duties. There are also talking head interviews from various professors and people involved.

THE POSITIVE: WOW. Is all I have to say. This film was unlike anything I've ever seen before. I already want to see it again and I just saw it yesterday. The story is gripping-I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next-and the acting is superb. It's a sci-fi story that is original, bold, and well done. The entire storyline and setting had obviously been well-rehearsed and the film really does look real. It also had a conflicted man as the hero (or anti-hero), who wasn't mild-mannered on the outside, but able to manipulate complex weaponry when called to as so many action heroes are. He was a bureaucrat whose life spins out of control and forces him to decide what side he's really on. The film was also a great metaphor for apartheid and also racial relations in general. It was just great on every level.

THE NEGATIVE: I want more!! That's all I have to say. I want to see what happens next. It definitely left me with a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of things that I want to see happen.

THE VERDICT: short and sweet: Go See It.

I give it 5 out of 5.