District 9 - Reader Reviews: The BigScreen Cinema Guide

Academy Award® nominated for:
* Film Editing
* Best Picture
* Visual Effects
* Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

by The Reviewer

Aug 18, 2009

After Transformers 2, I saw little hope for a good summer block buster. District 9 is perhaps the best action/sci-fi since, well...Jurassic Park? Peter Jackson brings us a film that is a little slow to start and dynamite by the end. Throughout the film, we can identify with our character as he soon realizes the hidden truths within the MNU organization of District 9.

Through a mix of camcorders, news updates, and motion picture clips, we (the audience) are hunted with the main character, as we discover the aliens may not be as "radical" as portrayed in the media. And the CGI is as real as the news cameras portray. Jackson also offers an excellent storyline...common story elements such as foreshadowing, climax, and character development are uniquely configured into the multi-media camera shots.

Once again, Jackson brings an epic film to the big screen...another great addition to the Peter Jackson legacy.

by George Jobson

Aug 19, 2009

A somewhat good science fiction movie about aliens who arrived on Earth some twenty years ago and now is forced to enter into a another district called district 10. District 9 is the title of the movie. Aliens look like grasshoppers stand upright has been forced out of their home by a grovernment agancy. One of the workers whose in the center of the movie, had an accident and discovered that he is changing to look like one of them. He's see what it's like when someone or something has been discriminated. a real eye-opening movie.

by Scott Jentsch

Aug 20, 2009

I went into this movie with somewhat heightened expectations, which is usually a bad idea for any movie. Often, the movie cannot live up the hype piled around it.

Fortunately for District 9, the hype was mild and it came from reviewers and moviegoers, and not the movie studio pushing the product down our throats until we relent and see the movie in the hopes that they will stop.

District 9 is a science fiction movie in the truest sense, as opposed to a sci-fi blockbuster epic-wannabe. I doubt that we'll see any action figures, no happy meal tie-ins, and probably no animated series to milk the concept for all its worth. It uses aliens as a surrogate for an all-too-familiar human story, where oppression of a class of society and poor living conditions lead to more oppression, animosity, fear, and forced relocations.

This movie plays like an anti-blockbuster. There are no cities being blown up, no morphing robots and seemingly ordinary people (being played by glamorous factory girls and familiar faces) saving the world, with complete lack of regard for any kind of plot.

So many movies in recent history are more about the cast list than the story. Take "Funny People" and "Transformers 2" as two examples, the first more egregious than the second, although that could be disputed by many. The fact that there are no recognizable actors in this movie makes it more effective. You're not automatically feeling one way or another about a character simply because of your preconceived notions of that actor and their past roles and celebrity status. It also helps that the unknown actors, especially lead actor Sharlto Copley, do a very good job.

There are aliens, alien technology, and even a firefight between military troops and aliens using alien technology. The fact that this is all done with good taste, effective choreography, and emphasis on the "human" element of the struggle shows that not all sci-fi has to be brain-dead. Take note, Michael Bay!

If you go into this movie expecting the next Transformers movie, you're going to be disappointed. If you go into it expecting something more on the order of 28 Days, you'll come out satisfied.

by rslinwi

Aug 23, 2009

This is the worst movie we have seen in years. We walked out of the theater about 1 hour into the movie. This movie is a bad attempt at a political statement about weapon proliferation and treatment of the poor or something else, not really sure the story line is so bad. Save your money. If you must see this for yourselves, look in the Wal-Mart bargain bin in a few months.

by garystan

Aug 24, 2009

I enjoyed District 9, it definitely was not made with one of the usual science fiction cookie cutters. My thought after the movie was how different this movie was from any other type of movie, it seems to be in a class of it's own.

I thought they did a great job mixing in several filming styles and plots. If you like watching the news, enjoy on site news coverage, science fiction, adventure, politics, treachery, battle scenes, drama, and a little potty mouth, you should enjoy this film. The film has set up for a sequel in 3 years of the story line, can't wait for part #2. Enjoy this on the big screen.

by BRENDA RIGDON

Aug 30, 2009

I knew there would be apartheid subject scenario since the movie is based in S.Africa and the slums there have always been a "problem" for many years. Anyway I chose to leave the cinema after 15 mins because the camera movement made me feel ill and gave me a headache. A bit like watching a home movie that the kids had made for me. Probably one to watch at home where I can get up and take a breather now and then.

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