- Film Review
- Reviewed By Trevor Johnston
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4 out of 5
Seemingly helpless extraterrestrials arrive on Earth and are treated like any other vulnerable minority - as if they're subhuman - in this startling mix of sci-fi action and trenchant social drama from producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings). By framing events as a mock-documentary set in his native Johannesburg, writer/director Neill Blomkamp makes obvious reference to the shadow of apartheid, but the film never seems preachy. Heading a largely unknown South African cast, Sharlto Copley delivers a remarkable performance as the glib Afrikaaner bureaucrat heading up a brutal alien-relocation operation, who's forced by escalating events into an affecting realisation of the error of his ways. It may give way to (admittedly effective) shoot-'em-up fare in the later stages, but this remains a textbook example of fantasy cinema's ability to tackle thorny moral issues while splattering the screen with gloopy creature effects.
Plot Summary
Sci-fi action drama starring Sharlto Copley. Nearly thirty years after aliens landed near Johannesburg, the extraterrestrial visitors are living in a squalid refugee camp called District 9. With the initial welcoming attitude of the human population long since faded, the order is given for the space visitors to be forcibly evicted. For one man, the operation will be a life-changing experience.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Wikus van de Merwe
- Sharlto Copley
- Koobus Venter
- David James
- Christopher Johnson / Grey Bradnam
- Jason Cope
- Tania van de Merwe
- Vanessa Haywood
- Fundiswa Mhalanga
- Mandla Gaduka
- Thomas
- Kenneth Nkosi
- Dirk Michaels
- William Allen Young
- Sangoma
- Hlengiwe Madlala
- Louis Minnaar
- Piet Smit
- Ross Pienaar
- Robert Hobbs
Crew
- Director
- Neill Blomkamp
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