My second viewing of District 9, this time via Blu-ray at home, was just as enjoyable as the first. This time, I got the full picture of the documentary feel (having missed the first five minutes in the theater) and I marveled at the gradual transition from reporting feel to that of Sharlto Copley's Wilkus Van De Merwe and his tragic transformation. Similar to Avatar, the film has plenty of socio-political commentary to go around, and those longing simply for an us-versus-them clash of humans and aliens will be sadly disappointed. This is intellectual science fiction dressed up as an alien adventure.

While the film is based on an episode that occurred in District 6 during the apartheid of Cape Town, the average American might see the similarities of the way in which Native Americans were "resettled" or the way that African Americans were treated from the discovery of America through the 1970s. It's hard to watch the movie and not see the way that the segments of society grow alien to each other, whether that's the different colors of our skin or the appearance of another sentient being from another planet. Director Neil Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson create a world where the aliens couldn't be more lifelike yet starkly different, even while appearing amidst the slums of Africa.

And one shouldn't assume that the politics and the story of transformation take away from the special effects. The depiction of the aliens is strikingly vivid, and the transformation of Van Der Merwe is scary in its absoluteness. Whether it's watching the tribesmen battle the Multinational United, or the epic battle that culminates the film, we're treated to action and excitement that has precipitated from the opening documentary feel. In fact, we're taught one pace as the audience (slow, methodical) and the film finally explodes in a wonder of delicious emotion and action. In fact, the final battle scene is worth watching again and again, in much the same way that I'm eagerly anticipating a second shot at the last third of Avatar.These are not battles of mindless purpose; these are stories of import, where lives hang in the balance and the future of many races is at stake.

District 9 is my favorite movie of 2009. While Sherlock Holmes, Defiance, and Avatar all entertained me and made me think, District 9 drives home points that I find apparent over and over again in my life. A few of them for your consideration are listed below.

1. We fear what we don't understand. We find ourselves terrified by the unknown and unsure of how to handle anything that doesn't look, sound, think, or believe like us. And that makes us dangerous.

2. We want things that others own. We fight and fight and fight to get more, often at the cost of our personal ethics, our happiness, and our relationships. And still, we just want more and more.

3. Given the opportunity, anyone can change, and become a better... existant? While conversion occurs in a completely foreign and unwanted way here in District 9, Van Der Merwe discovers that once he has walked a mile in the shoes of the "prawn," he feels differently about them. And he discovers that once they've seen how he reacts, they respond to him differently, too.

From a gospel perspective, I see Van Der Merwe as an unwilling Christ-figure. He's a backbone-less politician who does a dirty job, and ends up becoming something he never meant to be. But in the future, it appears that he may rise up as a savior of his people; it's just that who his people are now is a rather muddy picture! But Van Der Merwe and District 9 have a story to tell, and it's one that we keep repeating. We plunder and rape and steal from our planet and from the other people who live on it, and as long as we do, we will continue to destroy Creation. It's a scary warning, but delivered with excitement and hope for the future, where nothing will be alien anymore.

[The Blu-ray version also captures the transformation of Sharlto Copley, the creation of District 9 (the area), the creation of the aliens, and more. Viewers get an insight into the acting and improvisation, and the mind of those who created this wonderful story.]