This movie can be summed up in the phrase "absolutely f###king amazing". The storyline, set in the year 2010, revolves around a spaceship that has come to a stop over the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The inhabitants of the spaceship are brought down to Earth, and settled in what becomes a slum, known as District 9. The semi-documentary, semi-movie reveals the story of Wikus van de Merwe, who was assigned the task of relocating the aliens, known as "prawns", to a new location.
I won't go into any further detail than that over the plotline, but needless to say, it is absolutely fantastic, and carries the film really well.
The film starts off in the form of a documentary, and is very cleverly done, taking interviews, the point of view of an on the ground camera crew, security footage and mixing it with a cinematic view of the film to help push parts of the plot along. The directing in this film is flawless, and the acting is superb, and the whole mix of elements helps drag the audience in, and help them believe what they're watching, and really get to know the characters and feel for them as they fight through the story.
The location is also a really good choice, simply for the fact that it is very unorthodox. Instead of taking place in a vast American city, like New York or Washington, where almost uncountable other movies have already been set, they choose the South African capital, Johannesburg. This helps in the plot, as it's easy to imagine the set of events taking place in a politically questionable African nation, rather than a democratic (although in parts, just as politically questionable) Western nations, where it would be harder for the government and the people to put into place the events that drive the film.
Another great thing about this flick is the weaponary that the geniuses in CGI have armed Wikus and the aliens. Amazing designs, and the stuff they do is, at points, hilarious. Why is it that seeing someone just blow a part after being shot at can tickle the funny bone? (Probably the same thing that lets people laugh at things like "The Final Destination", or the train station scene in "Knowing") But everything just looks so believable, and the kickass consquences of pulling the trigger of one of those babies are absolutely fantastic.
It is so goddamn hard to find anything to critise about this film, and personally, I'm not even going to try. It's all the kickass special affects, robots and explosions of "Transformers", but with an actual, and I must say, very good plot to fit it. Well done to everyone who helped make this film. I think this is probably one of, if not THE, best film of 2009, and one to look out for at the Oscars. There's so many good things about this film, I can't even think of them all right now, and they probably wouldn't fit. GO AND SEE THIS MOVIE!