District 9

**** (out of four)

"District 9" is an amazing film; visionary, exciting, and completely original. I haven't felt this way about a science fiction movie since I saw "The Matrix" ten years ago. "District 9" isn't going to revolutionize the way movies are made the way "The Matrix" did, but it does herald the arrival of bold new talent in the form of writer/director Neill Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley.

Twenty years ago an alien ship arrived at Earth; not over a city like New York or Los Angeles, but over Johannesburg, South Africa. When authorities force their way into the ship they find a population of grotesque aliens. The creatures, apparently a worker caste, are sick and dying, apparently unable to function without their leaders. The aliens are quickly relocated to a walled off area called District 9.

That Neill Blomkamp chose his native South Africa as the setting of this story is no accident; the parallels he draws with Apartheid are evident in the way the human natives treat their new neighbors, whom they nickname "Prawns." The Prawns are quickly shunned and anti-alien legislation relegates them to the status of second-class citizens. The resemblance of District 9 to the trash-strewn and dusty ghettos of Johannesburg during Apartheid is haunting.

Cut to the present, when a Halliburton-like defense contractor has been charged with moving all the aliens out of District 9 to a new "relocation camp" far outside the city. A middle manager named Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is put in command of the force sent into District 9. The first part of the movie is filmed like a documentary, as Wikus moves throughout the camp issuing eviction orders to the helpless extraterrestrials. Then the hapless bureaucrat comes into contact with an alien substance and...

I won't spoil it. One of the joys of this movie is how the story twists and turns, but earns every surprise. Conspiracies are revealed and unlikely friendships are formed. Sharlto Copley's performance anchors the film; this is his first feature, and the transformation he undergoes, both literally and figuratively, is incredible. An Oscar nomination is unlikely but not undeserved.

The effects are seamless, the music is pitch perfect, and cinematographer Trent Opaloch transitions beautifully between the documentary style and more traditional narrative. The parts add up to a magnificent whole, making "District 9" the best film of the year so far.