District 9

[daveshoot]

Well, I had to tell someone that this is a great sci-fi movie, and y'all are it.

If you don't like sci-fi or shoot-em-ups, move on. If you do, this could be subtitled "Eye Candy and some Brain Food". This relatively low budget South African film is a sleeper hit that doesn't look low budget in the least, and is a little different than the usual fare.

The first third or so establishes the basic premise. A giant ship parks over Johannesburg, but nothing happens. Finally humans cut their way into the ship and find tens of thousands of starving animalistic aliens. They resettle them on earth as a humanitarian gesture, and clashes with humans begin. This section of the movie is rife with apartheid parallels and ironies, especially the reactions of the former victims to the new arrivals.

Then things pick up...

It could have descended into a morality play, but instead things go awry and we move into a very engaging action flick as our hero (a human corporate goof who is tasked with relocating the aliens) begins to change sides, literally.

There is the stock evil corporation seeking to exploit alien technology, and another standard type in the racist brutal mercenary, hired as security for the relocation. I won't post any spoilers, but you don't think stock evil types would go unpunished, do you?

Stuff happens and caps start a-poppin', and it would be safe to say that Someone gets their hands (well, not exactly hands)on some extraterrestrial hardware with fairly spectacular results.

The director is a fan of the handheld shakey cam, but fortunately not to the "Blair Witch" extent (which I thought was a stupid movie with stupid photography). It works pretty well where it is used in this urban warfare environment. The Big Special Effects are extremely well done.

This movie is thoughtful enough to stay with you after you leave, but shootey and suspenseful enough to keep you interested while you're there. I will confess that I liked Starship Troopers enough to buy it, and this movie is waaay better than Starship Troopers. This is the best sci-fi I have seen this year. I did not recognize any airguns among the alien weaponry but I think some of the stock designs would appeal to the Russian goth types.

[longislandhunter]

Thanks for the review Dave,,,, the commercials for this movie have tempted me more than a few times to go see it but I've always resisted due to the fact that I've learned over the years you can't really predict a movies quality by the clips they show in the ads because they always show "good" stuff in those clips,,,, but,,,,, now that I've read your review I'm psyched   ,,,  I'm gonna go see this one soon    Thanks again.

Jeff

[Gene_SC]

I ran out and bought a ticket Friday when I went to town to deliver air guns to fedex.

Frankly I really did not like the movie. As Dave mentioned the camera shots just seemed odd and not professional. The story line was great but how they shot the movie and the not so talented actors kind of turned me off. Some of the costumes and weapons seem to remind me of the stuff they used in the first star wars.

If I had to rate this movie overall, I would probably give it a 7 out of 10 rating.. JMO

[Big_Bill]

Thanks for the review Dave,

I am a big fan of SiFi of all sorts, especially the ones that challenge your mind !!!!

But like Jeff, I have watched all too many movies with no other redeeming qualities other than the cuts from the trailers. I tend to wait for the D.V.D.'s, or they are put on HBO. That way I miss all the excitement in the theaters :-)

I will look for this when it visits HBO ! But it will be on my Watch List !!!

Thanks,

Bill

[ShadowShot]

I have been to Jo-Berg,
It is a very interesting take on how they would handle a situation like this.
Especially in a post apartheid environment.
The slums are depicted very accurately.

[dnttech]

Thanks for the review, Dave.  My kids have been asking to go see this one.  Gonna be a busy weekend, the ANG Airshow on Saturday and we'll go see the movie on Sunday.  Oh yeah, I liked Starship Troopers too...the second one sucked, though.

[Evo|ve_S|66]

I thought the movie was visually stunning. The graphics top off all movies ever made in my opinion. The close combat scenes with the ground troops and swat officers was great. Probably better than the military/army movies I've seen thus far in my opinion. However, the story was a bit....well odd, I don't know how to explain it. I didn't really like how the events happened. I don't want to tell what they are for those who haven't seen it =] Acting I thought was pretty good, the main character however did a great job expressing the emotion but his action/role in the film kinda made my angry, ha. The weapons could have used more of a tactical look instead of the chipped paint white as similar to Gene said. That being said, the .50 cal sniper rifle near the end was amazing. It looks like a Barrett in style, but with a little modern Halo flare to it. I love it! Anyway, all in all it's a good movie for those who like sci-fi and alien type stuff, as well as the soldier scene. For those who don't, well it's up to your judgment. If it were up to me, I wouldn't pay $8.50 to see it. If it was free, then heck why not right? I give it a 7.5 out of 10

-Jarred

[chortdraw]

I love syfy movies of all sorts. I will see this one for sure. I enjoy special effects! Even a poor syfy is better than none

[tunaboat]

Thanks for the review.  Just added it to my Netflix queue.