If I remember correctly, I just accidentally saw the trailer for this film on YouTube a month before it got released. Before that, I have never heard anything about this movie nor seen any trailers and whatnot. And it's like love at first sight after seeing the trailer. I told myself that I will definitely see this film.
So by mid-August, this film was finally shown here in the Philippines. I watched it on its second day of showing. Not a lot of people were in the cinema, probably because the movie itself is not what one would consider as a blockbuster hit, such as the overrated but bland Transformers 2 or that overrated shit HP6. Anyway, so I was there, and enjoyed the movie.
And it's the best film that I have seen so far this year.
The movie is about an alien spacecraft that got stranded over Johannesburg in South Africa. The story revolved around the aliens form that spacecraft getting racially abused and discriminated, mirroring the apartheid times in that country during the 80s to the early 90s. Yep, racial discrimination. And this time, it's worse because people are against the the aliens in a segregated, walled area called District 9.
The protagonist of the story is an field agent from the MNU (Multinational United, a fictional military contractor) named Wikus van de Merwe (awesomely played by first-time actor Sharlto Copley). During a military operation to relocate the aliens (rudely referred to as "Prawns" because of their appearance) to a newly built site called District 10 some miles away from the city, Wikus accidentally got contaminated by some alien liquid while searching inside an alien shack, and from that point onward, his life was forever changed...
So... this great film was shot in a documentary film style with shakey camera techniques reminiscent to another great movie Cloverfield, though to a much lesser degree since multiple cameras were used, and Borat, though this movie is NOT as funny. The narrative used interviews of various other characters, providing background information and opinions about the whole issue at hand. And through all that, the visual effects reigned supreme. The photo-realistic CGI that was used to render the aliens and other things in the movie was just pure awesomeness. Add to all of that the melodramatic sci-fi story that also touch social issues in the real world and voila, you have a must-see masterpiece.
If you still haven't watched it, do so ASAP. And you'll for yourself why it's the best film of the year.
(yeah, it's a late review... but it's still being shown in theaters so it's still not too late)