District 9

[rsbeck]

Caution: Spoilers!

I really liked District 9.

I don't look for a character I can empathize with in every movie. Lots of my favorite movies have no
character with whom to empathize ; Raging Bull & Taxi Driver to name just a few.

I liked that it was a movie with no clear good guys and bad guys -- I don't like movies that make it too easy for you.

For example, I hate to death all of those Robin Williams movies where Williams plays the lovable huggable doctor/teacher/disc jockey/whatever who just wants to do voices and make everyone laugh & inspire everyone all the time, but the mean old head master/head surgeon/head of the Radio station/head of whatever just wants to stop him.

Why?

Because the plot needs a bad guy and the fim maker doesn't want to take any chance that you might not empathize with old Mork.

In District 9, everyone is some shade of gray and no matter who you root for or against, you're empathizing with someone or something that is not all good or all bad.

In other alien movies, you either root against the aliens because they're exploding out of people's chests or your heart is melting because ET has huge eyes, feels your feelings and just wants to go home to his mommy, or they're playing some bitchin' tunes and inviting Richard Dreyfus onto their space craft.

I liked that District 9 took some familar elements, subverted the genre and did something a little different. And they didn't go all goofy in the end like 2001 A Space Odyssey. It's easy to subvert the genre if you just go all kooky.

District 9 explores the whole idea of empathy and its origins.

This is a common theme in science fiction. It goes right to the heart of what it means to be human, empathetic, how we feel towards those who are different, how we feel when we are made to walk a mile in their shoes, or in this case, their DNA.

Great storytelling, great thematic development and it's all wrapped up in a film with plenty of shooting, guts exploding, chase, conflict and tension -- a great combination of entertainment for both the mind and the body. Not too ponderous, not too mindless action, but more goldilocks juuuuust right. Keeps your blood pumping throughout and then you can either take it at that level or there is plenty to talk about over coffee afterwards -- my favorite type of film.

For my taste, District 9 was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

 

[amirm]

It is a great movie. And totally unexpectedly so. When it starts you think it is not going to be a lousy movie but it quickly becomes something else. I love it when you are entertained with a low-budget movie that gets outside of the typical boundaries of acting. The rough edges are what make this entertaining. As is the novel concept of the story.

Have to say it is also my last best movie.

 

[Steve Williams]

Rob once again you nailed it

When I saw the trailers it was something I wasn't expecting and was unsure if I wanted to see the movie but it was so good I watched it 3 times

 

[JackD201]

I've got to agree. When I saw the trailer I passed on it when it hit cinemas Peter jackson notwithstanding given my disappointment with King Kong. Online threads such as this one made me buy the BD. Still I had very low expectations. It turned out to be a real mind bender. Part The Fly, part Lord of the Flies, all Prawn.

 

[amirm]

Is it just me or did the South African accent add something special to the movie's tone? I still can't get the way the main actor (Copley) pronounced "Prawn" out of my head . "PORRRaWN." Not sure it would have had the same effect with American or British accent! The movie is different than the cliché in so many different ways.

 

[Bigfish8]

I liked this movie because while SiFi it had a realistic feel to it. If aliens were to visit Earth I suspect we would try to capture them and place them in a containment area. Anyway, it was a very good movie but not for SiFi fans looking for a lot of action.

Ken

 

[rsbeck]

In my opinion, if a movie is plotted correctly, it doesn't necessarily need what we typically think of as "action."

For example, I don't believe Driving Miss Daisy would have been improved had they included a car chase or shoot out sequence.

The central conflict was enough to hold my attention indivisible one nation under god all the way through 'til the ending credits.

On the other hand, I felt the action in District 9 was appropriate to the plot and thematic development and I can't imagine what one more chase or shoot 'em up scene would have added.

In fact, in some block-buster type movies, I think they take the "action" too far to the detriment of the film.

Take Transformers, for example. Does anyone disagree that the final fight sequence goes on far too long?

By taking that battle scene too far, in my opinion, it illustrates the downside of the action sequence and in my opinion, yes, there can be a downside.

While the action scene unfolds, the plot actually stops dead in its bunny slippers.

Caution Spoilers!

In contrast, take the sequence in District 9 where the main character has been exposed to the oil and has grown an alien arm.

The aliens have a powerful weapon that can only be fired by a being with alien DNA.

The main character, who laughed in an opening sequence when alien baby pods were popping like popcorn after being torched by flame throwers, is taken into custody and forced to use his alien arm to fire the alien weapon at some aliens.

Here, we get an action scene, but we get plot, character and thematic development at the same time.

As the main character is now revolted by seeing violence done to the aliens, we see very clearly how he has been transformed by sharing their DNA.

 

[rsbeck]

In other words, I hear and appreciate what you're saying, but for me, what I liked about District 9 was that it had quite a bit of action. In fact, I am surprised to hear someone say it didn't have enough. I've heard more people say they could have done with a little bit less. So, for me it had plenty, but not at the expense of telling a great story.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I am a SF fan. Read it avidly ( Anyone has read the novel of Iain M. Banks,? probably my favorite S.F. auteur and not too far behind Ursula K' Leguin, the early novels?) and go to SF movies whenever they come up only to be regularly disappointed. Not so with District 9. The movie has a grittiness to it that permeates it completely .. You felt the squalor in which these people were living and for some reasons nver asked much questions .. Why did they choose Johannesburg?, why it became almost normal for them to live there? .. What made the vessel float? like that, you would imagine that the South African Government would impose a strict quarantine on these beings and their potentially extraordinary technology but somewhere the storytelling took over ... Don't a. A k why.. I is so ... Very good movie, one of the best I have seen in a long time.. Not only a good SF movie, A good movie period ...
On a completely different note .. I personally liked Avatartoo

Frantz