When it comes to summer movies, most of them are simply mindless action, cliché-ridden dialogue, and clear lines drawn between good guys and bad guys.  District 9 is a summer film that gives you reasons to think, but still entertains.

The premise of the film is a bit unusual.  A large alien craft arrived 20 years ago and hovered over Johannesburg, South Africa.  Then…nothing happened.  It just sat there.  Eventually South African military breaks into the ship, and finds huddled masses of malnourished alien beings; hundreds of thousands of them.  Why they came to Earth is a mystery.  South Africa takes it upon itself (and later with international help) to nurse these aliens (referred to derogatively as Prawns) back to health.  They’re give a camp to live in, known as District 9.

Fast forward to today.  District 9 is a lawless slum, populated by the Prawns and some Nigerians who smuggle in contraband (cat food is a particular favorite of the Prawns) and sell it at excessive prices.  The walls have become militarized, and the Prawns are not permitted to leave the area any longer.  But citizens of the city are still unhappy.  They want the Prawns moved, so a new camp, District 10, is built about 200 kilometers outside of the city.  The international group which oversees the aliens, Multi-National United, is given the task of moving more than a million Prawns from District 9 to District 10.  In bureaucratic fashion, laws exist to make ruling over these aliens legal.  And one of those laws requires that they be given 24 hours notice before they are evicted from District 9. 

Here the story begins.  Wikus Van de Merwe (an effective Sharlto Copley, in his first film) is a pleasant, typical desk jockey who is given charge of the project because his father-in-law holds an important position higher in the MNU.  Generally unprepared and out of his element, he leads the MNU representatives (with military support) into District 9 to try and get enough signatures to make the eviction notice legal.  Language is not a problem, for after 20 years they’ve learned to understand each others’ language.  While collecting signatures, Wikus all searches for hidden caches of weapons (human and alien) and other contraband, hoping to make a good impression on the higher-ups.  But things go wrong, and soon Wikus is learning things he doesn’t want to know, and experiencing things he never thought he’d be a part of.  And through his eyes we see the lines blurred.

The choice of South Africa as the setting is ironic (and intentional).  I’ve read a bit about the real-life relocation of people being relocated during the Apartheid era.  Yet even the black population of the city is distrustful and hateful towards the Prawns, wanting them as far away as possible.  Not once in the documentary-style footage (which is mixed with the live-action) are any of the citizens interviewed shown expressing the slightest concern for the Prawns.  They just want them to go away…which apparently they can’t do.

Some may prefer more explosive, constant action, but if you’re like me, you appreciate a thoughtful story to go along with the fun of the action.  District 9 is worth seeing, so check it out.