Hang on a second. These thinking man sci-fis are like buses...you wait for ages for one to come along then two turn up at once! Hot on the heels of Duncan Jones' startling Moon comes a run 'n' gun adventure wrapped up in a socio-political allegory from first-time director Neil Blomkamp. With Peter Jackson singing Blomkamp's praises from the rooftops, as well as producing here, expectations were suitably high for the debutant. Ever since the long-overdue \"Halo\" project took a nosedive, Blomkamp, and Jackson, returned to a more lo-fi concept and helped each other to realise a feature-length version of the director's \"Alive in Jo'Burg\" - a fantastic short about illegal aliens in Blomkamp's native south Africa. Of course, the aliens in question here are in fact of the extraterrestrial kind. The insectoid 'Prawns', as they're spitefully dubbed, are here to stay ever since their mothership came to a shuddering halt right over Johannesburg some 20 years ago. Holed up in a shantytown, the Prawns are looked down upon as a menace, a drain on the economy and, worse yet, they are met with scorn and violence within the titular compound. Enter Wikus (played rather well by Blomkamp's friend and non-actor Sharlto Copley), a government dogsbody who loathes the Prawns and is tasked with the sizeable job of moving the alien interlopers en masse to a neighbouring district. When an accident with an alien fuel source leaves Wikus a little worse for wear - his DNA begins to fuse with that of the Prawns - he unwittingly becomes a freedom fighter for the aliens. OK, so the final reel of \"District 9\" is more in keeping with contemporary bombast and sci-fi thrills as Wikus takes up arms against his former paymasters (with extraordinary effects), but the film really is a remarkably deft study of the perils that are still tearing at a country to this day. Made for a reported $30 million, \"District 9\" is not only a wonder to behold, with a compelling blend of documentary footage and rip-roaring action, but is also a welcome return for thought-provoking sci-fi.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","fnc":"googleTrackerHelper.doTrackPage( '\/'District-9-film_options~21102'\/Reviews\/ViewAll\/1' );"}