District 9

[thirteen11]

WOW..This movie is GREAT . I was expecting it to be preachy or soft or something..But it's pretty flawless in my opinion..Solid main character..Solid action and I never once balked at the CG stuff...It wins the summer in my book.

[Doh]

I'd say there's about 75% of a really good movie here. The Cloverfield-like hand held stuff was a bit annoying, but I really had issues with...




**SPOILERS AHEAD**

The guy becoming Brundlefly, and then a giant robot showing up at the end.

**END SPOILERS**



Overall, though, worth seeing in the theater.

[mateo]

Kinda disappointed in it. It couldn't seem to make up its mind wether to be realistic, with hard-core intellect or a corney shoot em up gangsta flick . Plus there were a lot of inconsistancies. One minute the district is flooding with security, the next minute theres none.

[HellboyOne]

I did get a heavy sense of The Fly and Alien Nation, but this is definitely a story all its own. It might have had some trouble trying to decide what kind of movie it wanted to be, but the look, the gritty feeling of everything was sort of the glue that held some of these disparate ideas together. I wouldn't call it flawless, but it's the best, most entertaining sci fi I've seen in a while.

By the way, the robot (mech suit, really) didn't show up out of nowhere. It was clearly introduced at the beginning of the movie. And clearly, once we saw it, there was absolutely NO WAY we weren't going to see it again. Plus, it was in the trailer.

I'm very sensitive to hand-held camera stuff. During Cloverfield, I was near vomiting the entire time. But here, only a couple of shots really made my brain reel. Everything else was fine.

[bangalore_monkey]

Loved it!

have not one thing to complain about this movie. definitely on my list of favorites.

[Doh]

The original short is online and well worth watching:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNReejO7Zu8[/youtube]

I still feel the mech came out of nowhere even if it was in the trailer. I just didn't like it as plot device; it felt too much like a crutch to me. Still, if Mattel were to make prawn action figures, I'd buy one. I loved the creature design.

[Captain Genius]

I loved the mech suit.
It was a live action anime.
The Itano Circus also made me super happy.

[AgentHelix]

Great movie. Amazing how much less it cost to make than something like Transformers 2, and how much better and more real it looks.

[steve-O]

That was a great movie. Maybe my favorite of the summer, next to Up.
I agree with Brad that the effects were awesome. And on such a small budget! Unbelievable.

[Moonman]

The original short is online and well worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNReejO7Zu8

I still feel the mech came out of nowhere even if it was in the trailer. I just didn't like it as plot device; it felt too much like a crutch to me. Still, if Mattel were to make prawn action figures, I'd buy one. I loved the creature design.

Seeing that makes the movie seem that much weaker in comparison. The documentary aspects of the short film all but disappear after the first act. The only thing that remains is the choppy camera. Everything else is replaced with a fairly generic sci-fi story and an incredibly unlikable protagonist.

Even the first act doesn't seem as in depth as the short. The way of life depicted in the movie seems simplified in comparison and less realistic actually.

It's still a great movie, I'm just disappointed at the things that were lost in order to make it a 'movie'.

[robthegreatt]

::::::SPOILER ALERT::::::::::::::::
I like the different storytelling style they used, first off the fact that the "prawns" origins or reason for being on earth was never really explained. Just the fact that by fate they were dropped on earth and are here now for refuge. From a storytelling standpoint you can take alot away from this and draw your own perceptions to what the prawns are or what their intentions are. The only non-violent character is Christopher Johnson and the most unlikable character is Wikus. Who by the way murdered a number of the prawns siblings. Easily the most hated character in the movie at that point which later becomes the main character for you to draw empathy with. After they first dehumanize/humanize the aliens they show you who the real monsters are the MNU. Then they draw you to a conclusion that violence is not the answer by giving you a cliche villan, his death intentionally or not reminded me of the mutilation of the private military contractors in fallujah. And that was disturbing enough to realize your own penchant for violence in his death.

The writers alone easily destroying conventional gimmicky/cliche out of storytelling all out together and using distinct parallels with whats prevalent in the world.

I dont remember them really classifying the aliens as workers but i've heard that tossed around a bit. If they are workers why do they have such destructive weapons readily available. Also Christopher mentioned something in the film about saving his species but leaves them flat out all together. He says that he will come back in 3 years but seemed mad talking about his home world all together. The fuel collected from the fallen ship is never called fuel, its called "the fluid" and it alter's wikus's physical shape. The only movie i want to see in theaters twice just to get the little details out, by far the best sci fi since Children of men and a step further into the sci fi genre.

[J0ey Lee]

Despite all of its flaws, i LOVED this movie. Definitely one of the best i've seen this summer.








Spoilers!!!:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
My favorite thing about it, was how they integrated Wickus into the story. It was like watching Murray from Flight of the Conchords being pushed to the limit and seeing him become this bad ass Sci Fi hero. I loved how he is this pencil pushing ass hat in the beginning of the film, and in the end he is kicking ass in an alien robot suit. Just an amazingly cool film.

[HellboyOne]

Everything else is replaced with a fairly generic sci-fi story and an incredibly unlikable protagonist.

Wow...I thought the guy who played Wikas was amazing. I felt for him from the moment he got the assignment to the closing frame. And the fact that the guy isn't even an actor by trade is insane.

[Moonman]

Wow...I thought the guy who played Wikas was amazing.

The actor is yeah, he's a something to behold. But the character he's playing is a complete douchebag that I had a tremendous amount of difficulty sympathizing with. Fact is, it wasn't until the actual finale of the film where he showed any consideration for anyone other than himself, save one very small moment in the middle of the film which I'd attribute more to the stressed conditions he was under at the time rather than genuine compassion.

So basically I had to root for a guy that was stupid, cruel, and naive the first half of the film, then self-centered for the last half right up until the last...what, fifteen minutes of the film?

So...yeah. Great actor, portraying a fully realized character. And that character's a dick.

[bangalore_monkey]

yeah, that's the a main thread of the story, and of many, many other movies. the redemption of a total d-bag, criminal, idiot, or in this case a naive bureaucrat and a coward

though i never disliked the character, as he was pretty much a product of his environment, certainly not a dick.