This summer, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was the requisite big-budget sci-fi movie. However, a very different movie successfully showed that good sci-fi films don’t always have to cost a ton of money to make. District 9 borrows elements from other sci-fi movies as well as historical events, and yet director Neill Blomkamp still manages to make his movie feel original, unpredictable, and ultimately entertaining.

In the film, a spaceship landed in Johannesburg, South Africa over twenty years ago. The aliens were first looked upon with curiosity, but humanity comes to see them as a threat. They are moved into a slum - the movie’s titular district – but fighting continues to break out. A group called Multinational United (MNU) then sends out a team, led by Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), to move the aliens from the city altogether.

However, the operation ends up backfiring. Wikus accidentally sprays himself in the face with an agent that causes him to slowly change into one of the aliens that he referred to by derogatory names and despised. In the process of trying to cope with his newfound isolation and distress, he finds help in some previously unexpected places.

The mock-documentary style was one of the first things about District 9 that jumped out at me. The news feeds and faux interviews all came together to make me feel as though I was watching an actual documentary, and make the movie into something that wouldn’t have been possible if the movie were filmed from only one point of view.

Speaking of which, an obvious choice would be to film the movie solely from Wikus’ perspective – but the filmmakers choose not to do so. However, they do a great job of showing his gradual transformation from not only a human into an alien, but also an unlikable and callous character into an increasingly isolated and lonely man.

In the process of becoming an alien, Wikus changes from an expletive-spitting, all-too-human bureaucrat to a being with feelings, and Copley portrays this well. This is an interesting coincidence given that Wikus physically becomes less human as he emotionally becomes less cold. The fact that the aliens are treated with more warmth and portrayed as more human than the human characters is also some interesting food for thought.

A decent-sized chunk of Blomkamp’s inspiration for this film stems from events in his native South Africa. Luckily, he manages to inject political commentary about apartheid without being too heavy-handed about doing so. The “HUMANS ONLY” signs, the forced separation of the aliens from human civilization, and the slurs that humans direct toward the aliens all parallel real social injustices, and Blomkamp’s message works without being preachy.

While there is plenty of thought-provoking material here, those who like good old-fashioned action movies will not be disappointed. Wikus’ transformation is graphic, but it offers an opportunity to show some great special effects and dramatic standoffs with humans while he is on the run. I’ve heard his transformation likened to The Fly, and there’s a good balance between the documentary and straight-up action scenes.

It’s worth noting that District 9 was made on a relatively small $30 million budget, which is less than what it earned in its opening weekend alone. Consequently, no one in the cast is particularly well known, but I have no complaints. Overall District 9 should offer an entertaining night if you like sci-fi movies - in terms of this summer’s releases, it cost far less to make than Revenge of the Fallen and did much better with audiences.