District 9 Reviews

Even though some of the effects were cool, it still didnt meet my expectations. I thought the first maybe 40 minutes were really good and kept me interested, but then it seemed to drop, it didnt seem like it kept up with the pace of the first 40 minutes, it just got boring. The effects are cool, and there are some really awesome parts, but i expected more.

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Review:
Peter Jackson - better known as the mastermind not only behind the magnificent Lord of the Rings trilogy but a string of genre pictures appearing through out the 90's - produced this thrilling science-fiction film about an extraterrestrial concentration camp in Africa. District 9 also marks the directorial debut of South African director Neill Blomkamp. Taking a traditional sci/fi approach, Blomkamp examines contemporary society through a new perspective.



It's better off the less you know about this film before viewing it the better. In this case, the easiest way to clarify it would be to label it a sci-fi fueled indictment of man's inhumanity to oneself, be it against another race or an entire different species, in this case a species not even from this planet. The biggest difference depicted here that sets this film apart from any other alien invasion film is that the beings - dubbed here as 'prawns' due to their uncanny resemblance to insects - are not the invaders, yet nor are they peaceful visitors to our planet. Their refuges in a trash filled ghetto. Their mother ship isn't a glorious spectacle hovering over a city, it's a rust bucket. And that city isn't Manhattan or Los Angeles or any other glorious Metropolis , it's the slums of Johannesburg, Africa. The aliens are treated offal by the humans. I hope the inhabitants of Earth never come in contact with over worldly beings because the reality of how we interact with them may be similar to what's depicted here, which is a grim thought.

As a directorial debut, District 9 is a well crafted sci-fi thrill ride that deserves to be remembered for years to come not only for it's unique approach to the genre, but the message sent here. Not that this is a fable with an inner meaning to it, but it'll leave a deeper emotional impact on you than other brain numbing summer blockbusters about giant robots and action heros. This movie doesn't reach the tip of perfection one bit, but delivers more brainpower than your average apocalyptic fantasy. Not to mention a first time for lead actor Sharlto Copley, specifically hand picked by director Blompkamp and personally approved by Jackson. You'll be wowed by Copley. His heart-rending tour de force deserves comparison to Jeff Goldblum's in The Fly. And to me, that's high praise. District 9, with a chump-change budget of $30 million, soars on the imagination of its creators. This baby has the stuff to end the movie summer on a note of dazzle and distinction...

30 milioni di dollari per un film di fantascienza, di questi tempi, è una notizia. Sono convinto che Michael Bay o Roland Emmerich non riescano a farci nemmeno i titoli di coda. Finalmente un film in cui la sostanza prende il posto ai mirabolanti effetti speciali fini a se stessi. Regista esordiente, attori sconosciuti o quasi, una buona idea di fondo e riprese per lo più con camera in spalla. Con questi ingredienti è venuto fuori un film intelligente anche se non indimenticabile. Qualche leggerezza di sceneggiatura, qualche comportamento poco plausibile del protagonista che ne mina la credibilità come personaggio, non sono che sopportabili difetti di una pellicola comunque piena di pregi. E non mi riferisco tanto alla morale antixenofoba che permea tutta la storia, quanto al modo in cui è stata "allegorizzata", allo stile abbastanza fuori dagli schemi e a quel tocco di originalità che è sempre più difficile trovare.

Despite having not seen it at the time, I was rather surprised about how good people are saying it is. After hearing this, I had to check it out myself to see what the hype was about this film. Also, Peter Jackson was the producer of this film and he is one of my all-time favourite directors and I love his films particularly Lord Of The Rings. When I saw this film at the cinema, I was blown away by it! There were moments in the film that made my jaw drop due to the amazement of the film. District 9 is obviously one of the most unusual films that I have ever seen but it is one of the most realistic films that I have seen in a long time too. I am really glad that they made this in a documentary-like sort of style because that is the main thing that made it realistic. If it didn't have that, it would have failed just like Cloverfield did and War Of The Worlds slightly did. I was a little worried about the CGI effects on the Prawns in the film but I thought the CGI on them were perfect and flawless. It was very violent as well which is what I loved about the film as well.


Sharlto Copley's performance as Wikus Van De Merke was absolutely amazing! I find it to be one as well as the film itself to be underestimated and turned out to be a massive surprise. Wikus is an ordinary man who loves his family and his job but when he accidentally sprays some Prawn fluid in his own face, that all changes and he becomes a science experiment as well as a fugitive. He becomes half-alien and half-human due to this. I find it to be a tragedy because Wikus inadvertently sprayed himself in the face and then that ruins his whole life and could lead to drastic actions.


Neill Blomkamp's debut is absolutely terrific! He is now a director that has caught my attention. His work on this film feels like it can be an inspiration to people because the way he sends the message out that the way the humans treated the Prawns were like how the white people in Africa treated the black people and it shows that they have equal rights no matter on difference. Peter Jackson did an absolutely fantastic job at producing such an extraordinary yet mindblowing film. I find this film very special because it was made in three different countries of three different continents of the world: USA, South Africa and New Zealand.


Overall, District 9 is an intense, explosive, heart-racing yet gut-retching and gruesome thrill ride that proves itself to be one of the best science fiction films in a long time and one of the best films of 2009.

Uma nave espacial estaciona em nosso planeta e desta vez não está pairando sobre Washington ou Nova York, e sim Joanesburgo, Africa do Sul, nacionalidade do jovem diretor e roteirista Neill Blomkamp, que aos 22 anos teve indicação ao Prêmio Emmy pelos efeitos visuais na série televisiva de James Cameron: “Dark Angel”.

Graduado pela Vancouver Film School em Efeitos Visuais e Animação 3D tem em seu currículo de animador o filme “3000 Miles to Graceland” e a série “Smallville” e, aos 30 anos, estréia muito bem na direção de “DISTRICT 9″: ficção alienígena (muito da boa) que foge dos padrões de hollywood e renova bem sucedidamente o gênero.

O filme inova já pela perspectiva documental apresentada no ínicio e a refrescante idéia de um protagonista antiherói ao invés do mocinho sobrehumano; o personagem é interpretado na medida exata pelo ator também sulafricano Sharlto Copley: Wikus Van De Merwe é um ordinário funcionário da empresa privada MNU que administra o Distrito 9, colônia cercada onde vivem os alíenigenas após serem ‘resgatados’ da nave mãe. Após 20 anos num processo de favelização, os depreciativamente intitulados ‘camarões’ vivem confinados neste gueto militarizado em condições precárias de moradia e higiene sujeitos a prostituição interespécimes e contrabando por intermédio de gangues nigerianas que, assim como a MNU, estão interessadas na tecnologia do arsenal bélico encontrado na nave. É neste contexto que o protagonista é exposto a uma substância desconhecida e em consequência passa a ser procurado pelo governo e, foragido, tem apenas um lugar para recorrer: o Distrito 9.

District 9 is a very good film for fourty minutes. During that time it creates a very clever and inventive parallel to the apartheid that took place in Capetown in the 70s. During this time director Neill Blomkamp is clearly making a film about things important to him and to me atleast they transmitted from the screen as such. If District 9 had continued being such a personal picture for the remained of it's running time, it would have been stonking great. Alas, we get the last half of the film. It's just mindless action fun where aliens and humans get shot into bloody pulps via guns that shoot lightning. Had there been shurikens involved, it would've been more fun. However it still would've been complete and utter nonsense of a climax compared to the set-up of the entire flick. The nonsenical action and gory shooting that takes place for about 50 minutes of D9 makes the viewer feel uneasy over what had been previously shown. What the hell happened to all the great, personal nyances portrayed earlier? When did this turn into Iron Man on steroids? It's a shame that the film turns into action fluff, as it had a great deal of potential that it did eventually lose due to this sudden change in tone and content. It's still entertaining in the endgame, but it hardly lives up to the depth of the first half.

''I mean, you can't say they don't look like that, that's what they look like, right? They look like prawns.''

An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent that is exposed to their biotechnology.

Sharlto Copley: Wikus Van De Merwe

It's safe to say District 9 is a breath of fresh air in terms of originality mixed with familiarity. New ideas of sci-fi, documentary filming, and action-packed scenes are all merged together here in seamlessly sewn entertainment.
District 9 offers us a new world of vision and clarity. We have a UFO hovering over Johannesburg in South Africa, not a typical Hollywood location set in the obvious US, because lets face it, this is not a typical Hollywood blockbuster. This is a totally new ball game which emphasizes other familiar sci-fi names like Halo, the Marvel Iron Man, and the fun Independence Day, then turns them all on their head. District 9 draws its many strengths from it's inspirations, from its script and above all from it's likable although flawed hero, and a father and son Alien whom actually help us ''relate'' to the Alien race, known as 'Prawns'.



''When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm. And always remember that a smile is cheaper than a bullet.''

The action scenes and effects obviously stand out here in awe inspiring proportions. These scenes in which people are zapped by alien ray guns is truly like watching a computer game in motion, needless to say it's very real, very in your face, and will have all action/sci-fi junkies glued to the screen drooling for more.
What is nice is that the main Hero, Wikus Van De Merwe played by Sharlto Copley, starts off as an MNU Officer in charge of evicting the prawns from District 9. Thankfully a twist of fate in which he is sprayed with alien substance causes him to start to change into one of them, hence him becoming sympathetic to the aliens cause.

I find District 9 also hits the nail on the head over various issues, such as racial prejudices, Concentration camps and humanities total disregard for anyone or anything that is different. The deeper message here, is this really our planet at all? Are we under the illusion that it is our property? Our self proclaimed intelligence as supposedly the most advanced life-form on this Earth premature perhaps? The aliens are different physically, sure, but they suffer from the same weakness we do. In that sense we have become so reliant on Technology, that the day we lose it, is the day we fall back into our primitive squalor of unwilling practicality.
Thus District 9 succeeds on so many levels, it isn't only considered a blockbuster, a documentary, or even a Sci-fi actioner, District 9 is an exploration of the human psyche and spirit, a journey of hope and rekindled enlightenment.

''I want to go home!''

Before it descends into a “shit goes boom real pretty!” action film, District 9 is a glorious return to brainy science-fiction. The continuing cutaways to talking heads and news footage only enhances the viewing experience. How? They ground the aliens in a real world setting, in a real world plot. Complete with allusions to the awkward and fear-based racial tensions that mark just about every nation. This is grand summer entertainment that doesn’t come around often enough.

The special effects and makeup are fantastic. Top notch really. More proof that huge budgets don’t always equal better production values. This film was made on the near cheap ($30 million isn’t much for a film of this scope) but it looks three times as expensive, if not more. The shot towards the end where Wikus looks up and half of his face is starting to turn is oddly beautiful. The seamless blend of alien and human in his face deserves the Oscar nomination, if not win, for visual effects. Or is that makeup?

Speaking of Wikus, the performance of Sharlto Copley is an extraordinary thing. At some point I just bought what he was selling. His performance was so immersed and lived-in that you can’t help but feel for him by the very end. He carries the film and helps you to overlook the flaws which creep up towards the end. As mentioned above, at the very end of the film does show one too many people exploding upon impact from alien technology, but this minute flaw can’t ruin the film. This is quite possibly the best summer film that I’ve seen in a very long time.

Missed ‘Alien Nation’ and its arrival of an Alien slave ship on Earth the first time round? Well the good news is that this is almost a remake, that is if the Aliens landed in South Africa and were more insectoid in appearance. District 9 is partially filmed in that terrible Cloverfield/documentary style, so you learn from the start that key figures survive and life doesn’t change too much in the future – like the perfect episode of a TV series (always end the way you start). This slow start and documentary style lessens the potential tension, but does make the story a little more believable.

In this movie Aliens come to Earth and instead of making us think about our place in the universe, or changing the world for the better, nothing changes and we treat them terribly, putting them into refugee camps that quickly deteriorate and then move them on to the inhabitable suburbs.

As it’s filmed as a documentary for a major part, and no one shows any glimmer of humanity, it’s hard to feel anything for the lead character, even when circumstances forces the lead to confront his prejudices.

There is a little bit of action and a large fire-fight for those that like their science fiction hollow and full of explosions, but don’t expect too much of that either. If this film was made during apartheid, it would have been impressive, but now its just depressing. A very predictable and lacklustre movie, but it still rates higher than most, simply because so much poor quality sci-fi has been produced!

As each Sci-fi movie, District 9 is based on the brutal reality of today. The only objection is that the first 20 minutes of introduction to the film's plot is too long, all it could fit in two to three minutes.
All in all, the film is below the average for all lovers of science fiction.