Synopsis:

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

The Freak's Rating: B : Most summers, the public is bombarded with propaganda from movie studios.  Fast food chains sign up with Disney and hand out character-based toys.  Toy companies mass produce men/cars/trucks of the latest family/superhero flick.  These measures make sense from a studio standpoint and can generate enough revenue on their own from mindless lemmings to produce a franchise out of even the worst family film (I'm looking in your direction, Ice Age).  District 9 took a unique approach to marketing.  Though not as obvious here in Minnesota, in Los Angeles signs were placed everywhere saying "For Humans Only" (as seen above) or "MNU Lies".  Here I saw but one sign, plastered on the exit door of my local theater.  It was an interesting approach in the major cities.  Word of mouth is what the studios are relying upon for reviews to carry this film to summer blockbuster level.

District 9 appears at first glance to be a typical sci-fi flick, having aliens amongst people ala many genre-heavy films.  The interesting side of this film is the humanity which it successfully attached to the aliens, unlike any film I've seen before.  At first shown as annoying creatures that won't go away, you are easily convinced they are "just like us".  I know, that sounds cliche, but cliche as it might be it is done nicely here.

Documentary style filmmaking has lost its lustre completely and Hollywood should take note.  Blair Witch took it to peak interest, but the appeal has vanished.  The first third of the film is shot this way, in a dizzying jumpiness that epilepsy patients should be warned of.  That said, there are parts of the film that couldn't be made without it, relying on its unpredictable camera angles for storyline emphasis.  The originality of this necessity makes the use of such a technique forgivable.

The hero is pitted against an unbeatable human bad/good guy (depending upon the half of the film you're in) in a massive CGI fight in the final 20 minutes that runs a tad too long.  With as little character development as they devoted to this soldier, simply having him die quickly would have been far more entertaining.  In addition, writing desperately needed some work as some of the film's "surprise" moments are hinted at so strongly in the films first 15 minutes that their impact is lost.  These flaws are minor, but still obvious along with other moments, such as hiding in weeds 10 feet from your enemy and them not being able to see you when they look intently in your direction.

The film also feels incomplete as the credits roll, most likely an oversight in hopes of a sequel.  Though I have no problem with hinting at a continuation of the story, this was particularly annoying since the pacing and story up to that point leads the audience to believe we will follow our arcs to completion.  The flaws, minor as they are, cast a shadow over a cinematic milestone being achieved with the story's gravitational pull to our emotions and the humanization of aliens.  A tighter script and less docu-style would have been an easy A.

Nate's Rating: B : Not a whole lot to add here.  I really enjoyed the movie and it does get into "A" territory a few times.  On my personal scale it's probably an "A", but I don't buy many movies and while I might watch it again, I have no real plans to do so.

Anyway, I really liked how they started the movie off after the aliens had already been on Earth for 20 years and had gone from amazing and interesting to an annoyance and almost to an enemy of the humans.  In a lot of sci-fi stories like this, a single death on either the human or alien side is enough to spark an interstellar war.  D9 handles the situation a lot more realistically, with both human and alien deaths being an "issue" that nobody really knows how to deal with, which is refreshing. 

The main character is interesting because he starts out as a really unlikable person and gradually wins you over.  That's good storytelling.

Like Scott, I didn't really care for the soldier antagonist -- he really didn't have anything interesting about him.  In fact most of the humans in the film are a little thin; I would have preferred some more moral ambivalence and a little bit of "yeah it's wrong we're doing this to the aliens but if we don't bad things might happen".  In this, it's typical big bad government doing what it wants; a writer's easy way out.

All that said, the film is well-executed and has you cheering at right spots and for the right reasons.  It keeps the feeling visceral by avoiding big flashy special effects and keeping the camera on the ground.  A few cliches (big bad exoskeleton and shoot-first military) don't bring it down too much and it's still enjoyable.  Oh, and the blood and guts are fun, too.

Brian's Rating: A- : Everybody raves about this movie, so my expectations were high going in.  Unfortunately, I knew what to expect from the movie before I saw it due to all the chatter.  In theatrical release, with the unique marketing style chosen, most of the audience did not know what to expect, and I think some of its praise come from that "surprise".

Still, its a good movie, and tells a very clear tale of apartheid.  I thought the style of the film, and directions were done very well, and the leading actor nailed his part.  It was either a perfect casting choice, or a perfect acting job.   The story was interesting, and did a good job of getting me involved in the key character of the smart alien.

The film falls a bit short for me in the final 20 minutes or so.  Without spoiling anything, it takes a clear turn in style, and for me it just did not sit as well as the rest of the movie, or the very ending.

You don't need a 300 million dollar budget to make an immersive film.  District 9 proves this, and every single Sci-Fi fan should be seeing it.

click here to review it yourself!