Movie Review: DISTRICT 9 - Incredible - What Did you Think!?

by Joey Paur

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We had a little GeekTyrant get together last night for the midnight screening of the Peter Jackson produced, Neil Blomkamp directed sci-fi film District 9, and let me tell you… this movie was wonderfully fantastic! Definitely one of the best films of the summer, hell, I’ll go as far to say that it’s one of the best films of the year. I liked it equally as much as Star Trek, but in different ways. District 9 was a different film, it was darker, edgier, more serious, and original. I use Star Trek as an example because out of every other summer flick it was my favorite.

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Here is a film that has an original idea, there is no built in audience for this thing. It is full of actors you have never heard of before, and this is the first feature film that director Neill Blomkamp has directed! Here is a guy that every fanboy and fangirl knows about, and until this movie was released he was only known for what he didn’t do, and that was his attachment to the Halo film that fell through. Not many directors can slap their name on their first feature film, and have people know who that person is, and what they have done. It’s incredible to see how this guy came from directing short films to being one of the most hyped up directors in Hollywood. It is well deserved. Blomkamp has created a great movie! His style is hard edged and tough. He’s not afraid to get down and dirty. He's made a very gritty sci-fi film, and I loved it.

The film was shot in a documentary hand held style, which worked great for the way they told the story, but if you get motion sick you may not enjoy it as much. The transition from this hand held documentary style to regular story telling mode is flawless. For example, the movie starts out like The Office, where the main character, Wikus, is talking to the camera, and the story transitions away from that approach, to watching him just trying to survive this incredible chaotic ordeal he got himself into.

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The effects were done brilliantly! They were flawless; everything that was created for the film looked real. The aliens, the space craft, the weapons in the film, and how they worked were all outstanding. There is a mech suit in the film that you have seen in the trailer that is so freakin cool. I loved the look of it, the technology of how it worked, and I would love to get myself one. The effects on these things were very impressive. On a side note the film was shot for $30 million dollars, less than what Sam Raimi spent on his Drag me To Hell film, and this film looked incredible! Compared to the $175 million dollars that Paramount spent on G.I Joe’s craptasstic special effects, it just shows you what can be done with the right creative people; I can’t even imagine what Blomkamp would have done with G.I. Joe on a $175 million dollar budget! Look what he did with 30!

The aliens were amazing; I loved the design, which was executed perfectly. There is one alien character in particular that you get to know, and he is just like any of the other actors in the film. He is a character that you care about, you see the emotion, and how he reacts to the crap that he is going through, you can’t help but like the guy! I think it is the first time since Steven Spielberg’s ET that the audience is able to connect with an alien character on that kind of emotional level.

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The story is fairly simple and easy to follow, but it's also heavy, thought provoking material. These aliens accidentally end up on earth, the world and government thinks they have the best intentions for them in trying to help them by creating a place for them to live, and thrive. This place, District 9, ends up turning into a slum type of concentration camp where the aliens are pretty much being treated like crap. The movie starts off with the main character of the story, Wikus, as he goes out with the MNU government agency to evict the aliens from their homes, so they can move them to another location that has been set up to move them further away from residents of Johannesburg. It is during this little business trip that he comes across an alien shack, and finds a cylinder with some kind of alien technology in it, which ends up spraying the guy in the face. It is from this point, he starts having these strange bodily problems as he begins to turn into one of these aliens. This transformation he slowly has to go through looks like it would suck. When MNU finds out they start performing tests on the poor bastard. Turns out, because he is turning into an alien, he has the power to use the alien’s weapons, which only the aliens can activate through their DNA. The humans have been trying to figure out how to do this for years, and now they have a key. Wikus fears for his life and escapes to District 9. It is there he comes in contact with the alien that developed the alien bio formula that sprayed in his face. When learning about what this formula actually has the power to do, he and the alien join forces against MNU to help each other out to get what it is that they want.

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Not only did the movie have great special effects and solid story but the action was great! This movie had some intense and fun action sequences! There are explosions, fire fights, and people being disintegrated into a bloody nothingness.

Then you have all the no name actors in the film which were all incredible! The guy that played Wikus, Sharlto Coply, was fantastic, and this was the first movie he has even acted in! How awesome is that!?

District 9 is an all around great film. It’s got everything a movie geek is looking for in a film, there is nothing to complain about! You are going to love this movie, I don’t see how you can’t! Don’t believe me? Positive reviews are blowing up all over twitter! Here are a bunch of reviews that have poured in through twitter to back me up.

 

 

alertphil District 9 was delicious. The plot was interesting, effects were superb.

 

 

ChrisTomalty amazing. Can't believe this is the director's first feature film; one of the best directed and produced movies I've seen

 

 

Videogamegirl I saw it last night and I liked it, I thought it really stood out and had an interesting concept

 

 

kcwebgirl me likey! saw it at a screening & can't wait for all my friends 2 see so we can dish. great balance of soc comm & actn. go prwns

 

 

Jaredthegreat86 thought it was really great had a good story great action scenes and of course you can't forget the awesome aliens in the movie

 

 

Kfreshness great movie

 

 

not_tragedi Just got out of District 9....FREAKING AWESOME!

 

 

biggitio Phenomenal.

 

 

spinninggirl District 9 did not dissapoint! Edge-of-seat stuff with a social conscience. Love the weaponry. Will not look at "seafood" the same.

 

 

DanielMaldonado Transformers 2 + GI Joe = FAIL!!! District 9 = PASS WITH FLYING ALIEN COLORS !! GREAT MOVIE !!!

 

 

ROCKINFREDDY Saw District 9 last night...it was a really cool movie!!

 

 

 

tshizdude So...go see District 9, it actually has a unique plot plus i've never seen so many people get blown up in a single movie. Sweet...

 

 

buzz84 district 9 was ill no major actors one of the best movies this summer

 

 

MeltingPotBand We caught "district 9" last night, pretty cool flick!

 

 

rightjune Review: 'District 9' a brash, inventive debut..

 

 

JamesLewis777 District 9 was amazing.

 

 

dredogg167 just got back home after watching "District 9" at midnight. Epic movie! Unbelievable creation of the story, graphics, everything...great ...

 

 

ontheverb So District 9 was fucking great.

 

 

sandoi Just watched G.I. Joe. Cliched, very much predictable. Was yawning after the first half. District 9, so much more worthwhile.

 

 

DanielMaldonado District 9 - Saw it last night - Racism, Social Stratification, Poverty, Corporate Greed, Crime, Gangs, Prostitution, War & oh yeah, Aliens!

 

 

Leachalc District 9 was sick!

 

 

smellioo Look, all I'm saying is that District 9 currently has a 92% on Rottentomatoes.....

 

 

AlicenosliW the movie District 9 is freakin messed up!!! oe!!!

 

 

mavenChris Go see District 9. It's the best sci fi-action-South African-alien-apartheid movie this year. Maybe ever. Hotel Rwanda is a close second.

 

 

AngelAlzona saw the midnight screening of District 9 last night! It is definitely worth the $$! Go see it! Neil Blomkamp did an awesome job directing!

 

 

seaberry Saw an advance screening of District 9 last night. I really enjoyed it, it has more depth than the average "aliens on Earth" story.

 

 

codythisfall District 9 was intense to say the least. If you enjoy seeing humans spontaneously explode via lightning guns this movie is definitely fo ...

 

stotan88 2. District 9 was ridiculously awesome. So different from anything I'd seen before.

 

 

 

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