District 9

[SonOfaRich]

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/district9/

Whoa. Looks promising.

[gau dog]

I agree. I couldn't stop laughing when they showed the interrogation with the pixeling out of the alien cricket's face and the fake language. And I know the actors don't see it when it's there, but I thought the interrogator did a pretty decent deadpan. I certainly hope they have a waterboarding scene in this movie cause I want to know how their weapons work too.

Later trailers look more exciting and intriguing. And the reviews are stellar!

[SonOfaRich]

One of the coolest movies I have ever seen in a long time.

[dik pose]

This movie was great! I was completely invested!!

[Nofret]

Add my vote in as a satisfied viewer.
Despite a few little plot holes (nothing compared to Transformers), the story was fun and I definitely enjoyed the ride.
Definietely a fun "what if" science fiction twist on our lives.

[Kazu]

I really liked it. Sharlto Copley gives an incredible performance, and the effects work is top notch. It's rare to get to see mech fights, so I really enjoyed the finale.

[squirpy]

I thought it was fantastic. I thought it was a great blend of action and thought provoking. I love that style of movie where they just drop you into the situation without doing any world building. It's sort of like magical realism, I guess? Where this bizarre thing is already accepted as normal.

[mr cow]

i liked it. but i had some problems with it. [SPOILERS?] the first hour was pretty amazing, but when the structure started to abandon the creative social documentary style of it all in favor of making yet another action film, everything started to break down for me. that's when the plot holes started becoming more apparent and i started questioning more of the logistics of what was happening. it might have worked better if i remained an outsider simply spectating these scenes rather than thrown right into the middle of them. and i was also never quite sure what to make of wikus. i felt like i was SUPPOSED to feel sorry for him, but he did so much awful stuff it was kind of hard too. to me christopher was the hero of the film, although he never got a chance to really shine. [/SPOILERS]

the concept, i think, worked better as the short film it was based on. although this was certainly a more entertaining version. the effects were awesome and, my crits aside, the action was pretty fun. i'm actually really glad its doing well.


[MORE SPOILER!]






so district 10? in three years?

[Gunwhale]

I really loved the concept of the movie, and the whole look and setting was executed amazingly well. I think I missed the interrogation scene from the previews, but in contrast to others, I was kind of glad they didn't adhere to the social documentary setup the whole time. I think we needed to get into the characters, and they did really well with that. I think the problem I had was that certain elements weren't fleshed out enough. I thought the part with Wikus calling his wife after the incident didn't have enough emotional impact. Also, I thought the violence was a little too much and came off a bit hokey, especially at the MNU headquarters. This was probably reinforced by the fact that it caused several people in the theater to giggle..

Overall I loved the character depth in Christopher and his son. Not sure if a lot of people were thinking about it, but I thought it was good commentary on the apartheid in South Africa. I also couldn't help but think that this could have been the Halo movie. I'm not sure if that's good or not. I loved the Halo shorts Blomkamp did, and I think this movie was great, but I'm not sure if the story would be good enough, even though it's apparent based on District 9 that the visuals would be. Sorry about the Halo tangent..

[Stick]

Overall I loved the character depth in Christopher and his son. Not sure if a lot of people were thinking about it, but I thought it was good commentary on the apartheid in South Africa. I also couldn't help but think that this could have been the Halo movie. I'm not sure if that's good or not. I loved the Halo shorts Blomkamp did, and I think this movie was great, but I'm not sure if the story would be good enough, even though it's apparent based on District 9 that the visuals would be. Sorry about the Halo tangent..

the friends who I watched it with thought the same thing, however, it was more or less based on Blomkamp's short film "Alive in Joburg", which, available on youtube:


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

I do wish he was able to do the Halo Movie. It would have been awesome.

[Josh-Ulrich]

I am above and beyond happy that this was not the Halo movie. Because certainly all we need is one more steaming pile of garbage video game movie. I'm sorry Halo fans, but video games do not make good movies, period.

Even if in some alternate dimension they would have been able to pull off a good Halo movie, it would not have been as good as this, because District 9 is one of the phantom pieces of original content coming out of hollywood. It's extremely rare to find a story that is specifically and entirely crafted for the big screen. I wish we could get more movies like this.

Yes, it has it's flaws, but over all I liked all the aspects of this film. I definitely did not want this to be entirely a documentary. I liked that it changed gears on me and took me somewhere I was completely not expecting.

Coming into this I was worried that I might end up getting bored... hahaha!

District 9 gets an A+

[jcaffoe]

I am above and beyond happy that this was not the Halo movie. Because certainly all we need is one more steaming pile of garbage video game movie. I'm sorry Halo fans, but video games do not make good movies, period.

Actually, I think Halo would make a great movie. There's an interesting sci-fi mythology behind those games, but it takes more effort than it's worth to find it. The story they try to tell really doesn't work in the context of the medium it's geared for, so I think it's something that could be translated to the screen really well if it were in capable hands (Blomkamp/Jackson). Just look at the live-action Halo 3 ads Microsoft put out prior to the game's launch. That's some powerful stuff.

Basically it's a story with a lot of potential that's not in direct service to the gameplay, which sets it apart from things like Gears of War, Resident Evil, or Doom, whose stories are crafted with the player in mind.

I thought District 9 was fantastic. It's always great to see a directorial debut that totally works. Blomkamp has a lot of potential, and I'm excited to see what he comes up with next.

[thirdeyeh]

I thought this flick was the most exciting thing all summer, if for no other reason than it was an original idea. I had a great time watching it. You really rooted for the characters and the struggle they were in. Or in Josh's case for that other military guy to die (Josh was freaking out man!). Lol, it was a good time.