This directorial debut by Neill Blomkamp is proof, if any were needed, that you don’t need a mega-budget to produce an original and highly entertaining film. And yes, that was a dig at James Cameron; for he, more than anyone, should be forced to watch this film, so that he can finally understand the concept that big isn’t always best, and as far as Avatar is concerned, it definitely isn’t clever.

Aliens have finally arrived on Earth. But instead of being all ‘oh look at us, we’re aliens and we have big alien guns and we’re gonna kill all you human thingies’, the human race ends up being the more dominant force. Maybe this is more down to the location they ended up in – Johannesburg, South Africa. It may have been a different story for them perhaps, if they had landed on the end of Brighton Pier instead.

As it is, they are treated like second class citizens, forced to live in a ghetto environment known as District 9. For twenty years their existence on our planet echoes that faced by the African people during apartheid. This fact is far from being coincidental.

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A documentary team are following a pencil-pushing, clipboard-carrying bureaucrat by the name of Wikus (Sharlto Copley) as he is given the unenviable task of entering District 9 to serve eviction papers to the aliens, who are rudely referred to as ‘prawns’. As he walks around the alien township, it is clear that neither he, nor the armed presence with him, have much in the way of sympathy for the bug-like extra-terrestrials. Particularly when you consider that the area they are being moved on to is even more of a dump than their present camp.

However, the mother of all motherships still hovers above the city, motionless. Not only does it serve as a reminder to the world that the aliens are still here, but also as a glimmer of hope to those aliens that there’s still a chance of escape. One such alien, going by the given name of Christopher Johnson (Jason Cope), is working under the government’s radar, in an attempt to get a hidden space shuttle vehicle in working order again, to get off this unfriendly rock.

When the paths of Wikus and Christopher cross, something happens to Wikus that makes him look at the desperate plight of the aliens in a whole new light; however, his newly found sympathy isn’t enough to detract the army from kicking some serious alien ass.

What Blomkamp has managed to create here is a major achievement. The scenario itself is a refreshing change, having aliens land in a place other than the USA. And despite the obvious visual references to the country’s notorious past, District 9 is first and foremost a sci-fi thriller – and proud of it.

It’s been claimed that the story is original – but it’s hardly that. What it is is an adult retelling of ET. Man meets alien, man befriends alien, man helps to send alien home. So really nothing new there. However, it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.

The film also owes a hell of a lot to Copley’s performance as Wikus; not only does this relatively unknown actor sparkle during the Office-like documentary segments, but he also manages to convey a real change in attitude and emotion, as a tangible friendship between himself and alien Johnson grows. In fact there’s a far greater and more affective sense of a relationship here when compared to Cameron’s shallow attempts at the same thing in Avatar. In fact, the real difference between the two films in each and every way is subtlety – with Avatar sadly being completely devoid of any.

District 9 also doesn’t resort to the clichéd us-against-them storyline, as it completely shies away from massive aliens vs grunt soldiers battle scenes.

The Blu-ray disc also includes some tasty extras including a rare director’s commentary that’s somewhat on the humble side, as well as some meaty behind the scenes segments.

A truly satisfying slice of sci-fi then, one that actually leaves you with an appetite for more. A second helping of prawns, anyone? Yes please.