Rated R for language, violence, lots of gore and adult themes. Stars, Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood and Eugene Khumbanyiwa. Directed and co-written by debut director, Neill Blomkamp. Produced by Peter Jackson.

Wow – this is the movie that the summer has been waiting for. Forget “Transformers 2″, Michael Bay’s bloated Sci-Fi franchise. District 9 is what a summer movie should be. Don’t get me wrong, this movie has plenty of CGI, all done seamlessly, but there is a story behind all the action and special effects.

Earth, Johannesburg, South Africa to be exact, has been visited by an alien spaceship, which has broken down and has been hovering over the city for the last 20 years. The people and government must share their city with 1.8 million aliens which basically look like 6 foot prawns, hence the name given to them by the citizens. These creatures speak in a sort of click, click and growl and are intelligent beyond the citizens 0f Johannesburg’s grasp.

Filmed with hand-held cameras and in a semi-documentary style, the film unfolds as the citizens of Johannesburg grow tired of dealing with these aliens both in overcrowding and in cultural differences. The plan is to relocate the aliens to a permanent holding camp, far from the city. The relocation to be handled by a government sponsored private corporation called MNU (Multi National United). This corporation has assigned Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) to carry out the dirty deed of relocation logistics.

It takes District 9 a little time to get going, by setting up the backstory, but once it does, it steam rolls as one culture decides the fate of another. The aliens have brought weapons from home, but they have all been seized by MNU. They are unable to be sold to foreign countries for profit on the world market by MNU because the weapons will not function unless used by someone with the aliens DNA.

The character of Wikus (Copley) starts the movie as a wimpy toad of a MNU bureaucrat you love to hate, but by films end, you will applaud his heroic actions. This is a don’t miss Sci_Fi action film with a dose of soul-consciousness, along with the realism of what if… with twists and turns in the plot and a hint of apartheid cleverly inserted, without preaching to carry the story. Lets hope for a sequel.