My Two Cents: District 9

[spartan773]

i may get it. never really saw it myself, but apparently there's an alien eating cat food, which my mother found disgusting when she and my dad went to see it

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

It's "an historic" not "a historic" though.

EDIT: Bah forget that, it's down to personal preference I suppose - I've always been taught the former.

Really? As I understand it, "an" should only be used if the word that follows begins with a vowel, otherwise "a" is used. But then I'm American - is what you suggested common usage in the British Isles?

 

[benbenthegamerman]

Nice review, and great movie. And because it's appropriate (0:57-0:59 is the funniest I think):
<youtube=E49BB1vE2tY>

fuck. that was hilarious.

 

[Garaw]

The biggest problem I had with this movie was the fact that its protagonist was an unsympathetic douchebag who had no concern whatsoever for his company's ruthlessness until it was turned on him. I can't think of an actor/script combination that better captures 'weaselly little shit'.

Maybe I'm being an artsy douche by saying this, but I thought Wikus's attitude towards the aliens only captured how easily humans can break trust and how quick they can betray others without a second thought. His turnaround only amplified the message behind the movie.

Valid point. I did wind up thinking that if humanity is going to handle alien encounters as stupidly as they did in this film, they deserve to get wiped out by a very pissed off Prawn fleet. So maybe that was the point.

It still doesn't do anything for my enjoyment of a movie to loathe its protagonist.

 

[JusticarPhaeton]

Meh, I've always thought District9 was overrated. A decent enough flic, sure, but not as good as most people seem to claim.

The whole apartheid thing was shallow, the zOMG EVIL SCIENCE CORPORATION OR WHATEVER HUMANS ARE THE REAL MONSTERS is boring and predictable, The evil cannibal voodoo negroes are retarded, the plot is full of holes, and halfway through it gets tired of its own weak shit and is like "fuck it I'm gonna do an action movie in stead".

But yeah, I know most people liked it and I can see why because it was pretty cool. It'd just be a lot better if it just accepted that it was a cool and reasonably original action sci-fi and didn't bother to pretend that it had an interesting plot because IMO it didn't.

Also don't use "without further adieu". It's "ado", not goodbye in French.

Well, I highly recommend the movie to others, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it, but here's the thing - I don't even consider it all that mind-blowing myself. I think, from a critical standpoint, that the movie is excellent because it takes a very cliche idea and runs with it in an inventive way that somehow manages to sidestep many cliches that are the pitfalls of most effects-packed movies nowadays. And yet it does have generous amounts of action in it nonetheless, so you can really say it's a rare gem that shows theme and character development really can be bridged with flashy guns and action scenes.

Is it revolutionary? Probably not. Do the filmmakers deserve effort for making a science fiction action film that tries (and succeeds with a notable degree) to be a lot more than the cash cows Michael Bay & friends are cranking out? Most definitely. Most other people likely see this as well, but the amount of repetition on the internets leads to a hyperinflated movie credibility rating, or so is my theory.

Also, much agreed on the ado/adieu schmuck.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

First off, the "evil humans" motif was thoughtful and fleshed-out. This and the apartheid were based off of real-life events taking place in Cape Town in the 1970s, where 60,000 blacks were forcibly removed from their homes and moved to bleak government settlements.

And please offer more about the Nigerian gang than "retarded". Their behavior is based off of real beliefs and behavior. The eating of body parts to gain power is a popular belief in underground South Africa.

I'm well aware that the apartheid is based on real-life events, but that makes it all the worse. Don't you think it's just a little odd how in a movie that takes a human-vs-alien apartheid situation and uses it as a "racism is bad" (gee, really?) story makes one of its main villains (next to the extremely cliche "evil capitalists who care more about guns and money than about human/alien life!") some kind of racially stereotypical crazy negro cannibals? They're ooga-booga colonial nightmares rather than believable antagonists.

The parallels drawn between the South African blacks during the apartheid and the gullible, dumb, useless, all too quickly procreating, barely able to take care of themselves, prone to addiction and easily manipulated 'prawns' who ultimately need to be saved by the <url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MightyWhitey>white hero who enables the "one good ****** prawn" to maybe help them (accomplishing in a few days what the aliens couldn't do in twenty years) is more than a little uncomfortable as well in this context.

And I thought the transference to action was justified and seamless. There was pretty much no other way to do it. I thought that the action in the movie felt natural, rather than forced.

I'm just going to have to disagree with you there. The movie starts in an interesting mockumentary style that to me seemed to promise a reasonably intelligent approach to the premise. This starts to fall apart when Wikus is pushed to the front as the unlikely (anti-)hero. Not only does it make the mistake of trying to 'alienize' a thoroughly unlikable human being (as Garaw pointed out) rather than making us care for the witless backdrop aliens or at least making them more relatable (the elements were clearly there in the father-son relationship of the only two intelligent prawns, which is all but ignored for that purpose). Anyway, back to the point - after learning that discriminating against aliens might not be a good thing when he starts turning into an alien himself (how convenient), the plot pretty much comes to the conclusion that the only way to really help the aliens is to blast the shit out of everyone who stands in their way, the bumbling Wikus turns into Action Jackson and does just that. While the transition between the two halves of the movie isn't as abrupt as I perhaps made it sound, it's certainly not "justified and seamless".

The plot was interesting and contained virtually no holes aside from the ones mentioned in my review.

I'd say that the ones mentioned in your review were already pretty significant ones, but they're by no means the only ones. Why is it that Wikus, and untrained human, can instantly use alien machinery that the aliens themselves haven't figured out how to use in all of the twenty years that came before? Why is it that this alien machinery is just lying around in all the obvious places when the evil capitalists clearly want them so very badly and obviously has the means to go in and get them if they want? Why is it that even though the aliens have been there for so long, the international community hasn't taken an interest in the situation, for better or for worse? Etc.

Also, as Garaw pointed out (and I failed to mention), Wikus is just not a protagonist you can relate to. He's a cowardly bigot who, even when subjected to the same kind of discriminations the prawns endure (and arguably worse), acts only out of self-interest to the point of attacking the only one who might be able to help him when things aren't going fast enough for his taste. The point where he stops being a selfish ass is the point where he turns into an action hero, and by that point any pretense of a serious plot is out of the window anyway. He might be an interesting character for most of the movie (and the actor playing him does a great job), he's not a very good protagonist in my opinion. I think it might've been better if there was more focus on the aliens and more effort to make them more fleshed-out and relatable rather than focusing on Wikus almost exclusively.

Now, contrary what it may sound like by me focusing on the negatives, I don't think District 9 is a bad movie. If the entire movie was like the first act, I'd probably have appreciated it. If the entire movie was like the second and third act, I'd have appreciated it on its own merits as well. But the way it is, it felt like a bait-and-switch between an intelligent sci-fi satire and a not-so-intelligent sci-fi action flick (that at least try to do something more interesting than the generic action movie). As it is I did enjoy the movie despite its obvious flaws, but I feel it's undeserving of the vast amount of almost uncontested praise it gets (hence "overrated").

 

[Woodsey]

It's "an historic" not "a historic" though.

EDIT: Bah forget that, it's down to personal preference I suppose - I've always been taught the former.

Really? As I understand it, "an" should only be used if the word that follows begins with a vowel, otherwise "a" is used. But then I'm American - is what you suggested common usage in the British Isles?

I did a quick search on this and the reason seems to be related to whether you sound the vowel or pronounce the consonant (bear with me).

Sounding the vowel: This would be "an historic", but because the "H" is barely heard (if at all) it sounds more like "an 'istoric" (therefore leading on to a vowel).

Pronouncing the consonant: Like you did, you'd be pronouncing the "a" as a capital (so that it rhymes with "bay") so then it'd be "A historic" as opposed to "a historic" (where the a is sounded as a lower case).

I'd assume the latter is an Americanism, but it can be said either way - I just know that after how many instances of looking at things saying "an historic" and me saying that that should be wrong, it's become embedded in my head that it's actually right.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

This is a well-written review of a well-crafted movie that shows us how important good storytelling is in comparison to big actors and special effects.

... Wikus is just not a protagonist you can relate to. He's a cowardly bigot who, even when subjected to the same kind of discriminations the prawns endure (and arguably worse), acts only out of self-interest to the point of attacking the only one who might be able to help him when things aren't going fast enough for his taste.

The audience might not be able to relate to Wikus, but I believe that, more often than not, the audience is capable of seeing themselves in Wikus. Humans are, after all, predatory panic-driven selfish and stupid animals for all their contentions of intelligence. Can any of us really say we would act any differently in his situation?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Best fookin movie since Children of Fookin Men.

I found it very harrowing and intense, but absolutely brilliant.

Mech Suit with grav gun???? Yes please.

 

[Geektress656]

I loved this movie, but always found it hard to explain why. This sums it up extremely well!

WELL DONE!

 

[Instant K4rma]

Fantastic review of a fantastic movie. I really enjoyed seeing District 9. Im currently looking to buy it on DVD as soon as I can. Great film.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

District 9 is essentially a giant salute to Godwin's Law, but it does it tastefully. Not sure what I mean? Well, they wanted to move the "inferior" prawns from ghettos to camps, were they would be concentrated, for one thing.

 

[Indecizion]

I actualy really liked this film, which surprised me coz i went in expecting to really hate being forced to watch it by friends.

 

[orangebandguy]

I really loved the film, I only saw it yesterday.

Although the sudden change from docu-drama to action was a little strange but ultimately paid off. Considering that camera view documentary style films aren't good, Blair Witch and Cloverfield for example.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Wikus was SUPPOSED to be a flawed little shit, but fear not, he turns it around in the climax.

As for the claims of racism with the white hero saving the ignorant stands-in-for-black Aliens, this is actually explained in the context of the movie that they are worker caste, and used to following orders. It's not THAT deep of a metaphor, the point is that they are completly alien to us.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Good Review! District 9 was one of my top movies of 2009