“District 9″ has been called the sleeper of the summer, which means an unexpected box office success that has received little promotions or advertising. Basically relying on word of mouth, which seems to be working in this case, between all the tweets on Twitter and the critics raves about it on Rotten Tomatoes. “District 9″ is set in Johannesburg, South Africa. Starting off like a news report there are several interviews that seem to focus on one person, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), who is an employee for Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens’ welfare. When the mother ship looms above the city an initiative is taken to find out why they are there. Upon entry on the ship they find most of these creatures malnourished and they set up camp for the aliens as refugees.
It has been twenty years since “District 9″ was open to house the aliens, but the alien population has grown and become unmanageable and “District 9″ needs to be shut down and all tenants evicted. MNU employee Wikus is one of the workers giving the bad news. A lot of rage seems to be festering as he confronts the aliens about relocating to their new headquarters. After a scuffle and some mishaps Wikus will begin his own battle with the alien life.
“District 9” is a good film; the Sci-Fi community will love it. That aside I was not a fan. I found most of the storyline impossible to enjoy. The fact that aliens were having conversations with humans and they were requiring signatures from the aliens to evict pretty much sums up the ridiculous scenarios. Sharlto Copley performance as the lone ranger was marvelous and definitely made up for the films faux pas. Director Neill Blomkamp has packaged an original Sci-Fi film filled with CGI and action that most moviegoers will love. May not have been my favorite, as I would not want to sit down and watch it again, once was enough.
2 Comments
Hello,
I was writing a long response to your review of District 9, introducing myself as a serious fan of movies and not some sci-fi/comic book geek with an axe to grind (I have the utmost respect for geeks
) and then I was redirected and lost everything. I came back to the site and decided, instead of starting all over again, I would just simply say how off the mark your review of District 9 is.
You wrote 3 paragraphs of which maybe half is actually talking about the story itself. I agree some things should be left to the imagination but judging from your review, you walked out after the first 45 minutes.
P.S. I checked out the section about you and I respect the fact that you are an animal lover and that you go the extra mile for them. Kudos to you.
I found your website by accident (actually looking up cheap eats on urban reviews and found a place and clicked on it and it brought me here.)
Aside form that, I wanted to see your review on District 9. To me, this is one of the best films I have seen in probably 10 years. The allegory, the political undertones and how it seems to undermine the media and government in the United States in a subtle way.
I have seen the film 3 times, and I absolutely love it. In fact, this rarely happens to me, but I get teary eyed when I watch it. I grow to sympathize for the aliens, and for me, at least, it makes me take another look at humanity and how we treat each other.
A brilliant film, that I realize not everyone will like. But I would hope some day, when the mood is right, you give it another chance.