Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp’s apartheid alien flick is out of this world 

Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp were supposed to make a movie version of Halo – but ’studio politics intervened’ (according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)  and the project died.  

Both men were devastated, but decided to direct the Halo momentum into making a feature out of Blomkamp’s short film Alive in Jo’Burg  – and so District 9 came into being.  

Citizens may recall an ambiguous advertising campaign that came into being a few months ago. Buses and posters appeared that simply said ‘For Humans Only!’ Or ‘No Non-Humans Allowed’ with a large bug crossed out in red. If you are like me, you were confused, bemused, and excited to see what these vague advertisements prognosticated. 

South African politics are reflected in the illustration of the relationship between human and alien in District 9. Those who were cognizant of news issues before 1994 will recall the election of Nelson Mandela and the end of Apartheid (Dutch word meaning separateness.) In Jackson’s film, the Nigerians and Dutch descendants are united in their dislike of the bug – like aliens that arrived on earth mysteriously in the mid 80’s. They refer to them unkindly as ‘Prawns’ and force them to live in a shanty town in District 9 of Johannesburg.  

The action begins with the election of Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlito Copley, who reprises his role from the short film) to the head of the alien relocation squad. Human residents in District 9 are tired of the prawn presence in their community and have put pressure on the government to remove them to a new location outside of the city. Legally, the squad has to present the aliens with eviction notices 24 hours prior to the move. The plan goes awry when several aliens refuse to cooperate (don’t understand the forms they are being given.) Wikus invades several of the prawn’s shanties, finds weapons caches, and is infected by an unidentified object. Wikus comes into conflict with white South Africans, Nigerians and prawns as he begins a slow transformation towards becoming a prawn himself.  

Christopher, a ’smart’ prawn, and his son help Wikus in exchange for his knowledge. They ‘just want to go home.’ Unlike the annoyingly precocious youngsters in previous action films, (Independence Day, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) Christopher’s son is adorable, likeable, and helps rather than hinders their mission. The relationship between the prawn father and son is actually very touching, and goes a long way towards humanizing the prawn community for audiences.  

District 9 is definitely not for children. There is  advanced weaponry, splattering prawn and human body parts, evil government medical experiments, malicious tribal warfare, and people eating cat food (gross!) Overall, District 9 is completely absorbing. It is an excellent film and the ending left it wide open for sequels. Dead Alive fans and Lord of The Rings fans alike will be delighted with Jackson’s newest project.