I am surprised no one has started this one....

Used a rare chance to get babysitting and saw it last night. I found it very thought-provoking and well done. It addresses the theme of how we would we treat aliens if they were NOT able (or for some reason unwilling) to use their advanced technology. The answer shown here was far too believable and very depressing. I do not think the allegories with South Africa were overdone - in fact I thought it was Haiti when the slums were shown. The predatory well armed criminals that infected the slums to take advantage of the aliens were also an aspect I had never thought of but I found them all too believable.

It was odd that I liked this movie becayuse the main character ("hero" is too strong a word, unless you mean the main alien character), was not likable. He commits atrocities without even recognizing them as such. It had that Philip K Dick feeling except I tend to loathe his characters so much I cannot finish the books. This one had me enthralled.

I have read that it was aimed specifically at a male audience (there are basically no women in it and it is unclear if there is such a thing as gender among the aliens at all) - but I liked it anyway. It was very heady stuff. I would love to think the 18-25 male theater goers would like this. Or perhaps someone will see it and actually start to think.....

Thanks,

Audrey

What a coincidence - I saw this film last night, too.

Without going too much into specifics - yes, it does evoke Alien Nation at many points, but never in any bad way - I was intrigued and delighted by a number of elements.

First, we owe Peter Jackson a huge debt of thanks for recognizing Neill Blomkamp's talent and ability. I think he may have brought a major, major talent to the world, one that might have otherwise never broken out of his native country. You can sell me a ticket to Blomkamp's next three films right now. I think twenty years from now he'll be mentioned in the same breath as Scott, Cameron and Kubrick. Just raw talent all OVER the screen.

The story is on the one hand predictable, but continually delights by never quite moving the direction you think it's going to. One time after another, Blomkamp sets up a slightly cliched scene - which is no bad thing, providing a little audience comfort amid a very discomforting movie - and then presto-change-o, spins the situation a different direction from the one you were expecting. Very deft and clever, most times.

The main character is not just unlikeable, he alternates between being a stuffy little prick and a spineless toad. He's a Gaius Baltar who can muster more unwarranted ego. It's deep into the movie before he really shows any change.

Visually, the film is almost claustrophobic. Nearly all shots are close to 1:1 zoom, bringing the sweaty, bloody, physical struggle right into your lap. Only in a few shots do you get a wide view, and then it's back to You Are There. I don't know if this was completely intentional or a limitation of the film budget, but it's very effective.

The thumbnail description that kept running through my mind was: Cloverfield meets A Clockwork Orange.

The ending is incomplete and sets up a sequel more loudly than some films planned as trilogy-starters. IMHO, the ballsiest move would be to never make a sequel and leave this magnificent piece of work to stand on its own.

The second ballsiest move would be to throw a $200m budget at the followup and let Jackson and Blomkamp hold on to the exact same feel and presentation.

In the end, though, what impressed me was how little they bother to explain about anything. There are HUGE questions about the whys and wherefores and how-comes... and Blomkamp just sweeps them aside to tell his threaded story.

This is NOT for anyone under 15-16. Very violent, more f-bombs than any two movies I've seen in a decade (and they are not window dressing, many of them sting) and some very complex and troubling issues even for adults. Which makes me wonder - today I went back to the same theater leading a flock of short people (to see G-Force, gawdelpme and here, take my eyeballs, I won't be using them any more)... and watched a family with kids of about seven, nine and twelve traipse into District 9. Unbelievable. Have fun with the group nightmares for the rest of the month, mum and daddums...

In the screening I went to on Friday night there was a crying infant. Jeez.

I had the same reaction to the film: I thought it was one of the better sci-fi movies I've seen in a long time. Not as good (for me) as Alien or Serenity, but right up there. I thought it was better than Moon. My girlfriend and I started talking about the logical lapses and unanswered questions pretty much as soon as we left the theater, but during the movie, they didn't get in the way of suspension of disbelief.

I thought the interspersed media reports were especially effective, and I applaud the filmmakers for coming up with such a complex, nuanced, and unlikely protagonist.

At the Movies said the director is all of 29 years old!

In an interview with Film.com Neill Blomkamp say this abotu Heinlein and District 9:

CH: You spent several months developing the Halo videogame adaptation as your first feature director's gig, which, by the way, is a hell of a big movie for a virtual rookie to be handed. District 9 is in the same genre, so did Halo have any influence on the project that succeeded it?

NB: The conscious answer is no. Especially because, if you work on something for five months, day in, day out, you want to make sure you're getting as far away from that as possible. But I think what's true about Halo and about District 9 is that Halo is definitely influenced by the sci-fi of James Cameron and Aliens and probably Robert Heinlein and Starship Troopers. District 9 is an amalgamation of other sci-fi as well. So an answer to your question is that we're both drawing from the same 50 years of Western sci-fi. But consciously, there's zero connection between the two.

http://www.film.com/movies/district-9/s ... s/29634576


So he is influenced by Troopers for Halo adn possibly also for District 9 along with other influences?

Either way nice to see he reads it at all - he is really young!

PS District 9 WAS better than Moon. And I would not have bet anything on that - I loved Moon!