Thurs. Aug 20 2009

Went to see District 9 last night with my dad at the Rave Cinema. Very awesome movie! It was definitely unlike any alien movie I had ever seen before – and the special effects were pretty top-notch. The story-line was excellent, following 2 decades after an alien ship comes to rest over Johannesburg, South Africa. After cutting our way into the ship, we find that the aliens are malnourished and pretty much dying – so we take them into camps set up and sectioned off, dubbed Section 9.

The story follows Wikus van der Merwe, a member of the MNU (Multinational United), who is promoted to take charge of a new directive to evict the aliens from District 9 and move them to a newly set-up concentration campesque site called District 10. Making his rounds with the aid of military support, he discovers a device full of “the liquid” (a project the aliens have been carrying out for 20 years) and accidentally sprays himself with it.

From the start, you just feel sorry for Wikus.  He’s bumbling, he’s kind of goofy, but he’s well liked.  And then, on the day of his promotion, he has unfold before him such a set of unfortunate events that you just truly feel bad for the guy.

Truly an excellent movie, and definitely worth seeing if you haven’t already.