Movie 2009.08.30 - District 9

Some reviews said District 9 the best sci-fi movie of the year, and I tend to agree. Good movie plot aside, the technology described in the movie is believable, and in some cases, already available. I was put off a bit by the "home-video" style of filming, but the CGI is pretty good.

The movie is about aliens coming to Earth and living amongst the humans. They are discriminated against because of their race, or should I say species, and the "prawns" ends up living in a slum called District 9. MNU (Multi-National United) agents move in to relocate them to a newer settlement called District 10. Naturally, the aliens resist and this is where the fun begins. In the ensuing scuffle, Wikus, the evacuation team leader, got in contact with some alien chemical and starts to morph. Now the government and the Nigerians are after Wikus because his modified DNA is able to activate the alien weaponry, whereas human DNA cannot. Wikus doesn't care about all this. All he wants is to become normal again and get back with his wife.

Christopher, the alien techie, promises that he can reverse the transformation process if Wikus helps him retrieve the cylinder that MNU has taken from him. They blast their way into the MNU HQ and narrowly escapes with the cylinder. Wikus later finds out that the reversal process takes years, and freaks out. He knocks Christopher unconscious and tries to take off with the alien drop ship, but got knocked down by an MNU rocket. Fortunately for him, we was able to get into an alien battle suit that he used to fight off the MNU agents, the mercenaries, and the Nigerians. This gave Christopher and his son enough time to activate the tractor beam on the mother ship to lift up the damaged drop ship. Meanwhile, Wikus and his robotic suit is sustaining heavy damage from enemy fire to the point that the suit finally gave up the ghost and spewed him out. Just as the head mercenary is about to kill Wikus, the aliens move in and tear him to pieces.

At the end of the movie, the mother ship leaves Earth, the rest of the aliens are relocated to District 10, and Wikus, who has fully transformed to an alien, longs for the day he can be human again.