Hollywood Reporter District 9 Review – Big Spoilers!

If you don’t like spoilers, don’t even bother reading this post. The Hollywood Reporter has already posted a review of District 9 (the first one ever to my knowledge). Their review is very positive, and here is how they sum up their response:

Bottom Line: A genuinely original science fiction film that grabs you immediately, not letting go until the final shot.

What is interesting is how much info we get on the plot. This paraphrased excerpt from io9 answers a lot of questions:

This is a “very original chase movie,” about aliens who landed 20 years ago, their ship out of fuel — though it still hovers, dead, over the city 20 years later. The aliens have been forced into makeshift camps, and they need a black substance to fuel their ship and their sophisticated weapons. You need alien DNA to operate those weapons, but a Nigerian underworld boss named Obesandjo buys them all up anyway, for cat food, which the aliens love. A private company, Multinational United (MNU) is put in charge of the aliens, and decides to relocate them to a rural camp, a task it assigns to “by-the-book wimp” Wikus, a field operative.

Wikus delivers eviction notices, and comes across an alien lab run by an alien named Christopher Johnson. Wikus gets infected with an alien virus that changes his DNA, and he grows an alien claw for a hand. The claw can operate that alien machinery and weaponry, and he becomes the “most valuable business artifact on Earth.” Wikus’ own father in law decides to harvest his organs. The MNU starts chasing after Wikus, who flees, and his main pursuer is the film’s villain, Koobus. Also chasing Wikus is Nigerian gangster Obesandjo, who wants to eat Wikus’ alien arm. Wikus hides out with Christopher and his son, and it turns out that virus is actually a substance Christopher was developing for the past two years to refuel the mothership so the aliens can get home.

So, it’s not Wikus turning into an alien entirely, it’s just his arm so he can use their technology. The bad guy wanting to eat his mutated arm is kinda weird, and I love the fact the aliens go crazy for cat food. Now, this may sound very silly on the surface, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the film pulls it off and still keeps the dark, action-packed mood.


What do you think about these details? Leave a comment or talk about it in our forum. District 9 opens nationwide August 14th.


Update: Our writer Scott has informed me that Koobus in this plot spoiler is probably the same one profiled on MNU’s website. Great way to tie the viral into the film!