An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.
The Truth
District 9 sort of puzzled me, because I had a hard time getting into the film. Early on District 9 felt like a comedy, but then they keep throwing the dramatic moments at you trying to convince you of the intent of the movie.
Was I supposed to take these half predator, half alien looking things seriously? So ok, I put that aside and just decided to take the film for the story that was about to unfold.
District 9 chugs along for the first hour setting up the role of lead character Wikus Van De Merwe and his unfortunate transformation into one of the ‘Prawns’. All Wikus wants is to be cured of his infection, and be rid of his new body parts appearing over time as his infection takes over his body.
Wikus makes an agreement to return a recovered liquid to a head ‘Prawn’ and in turn, they will cure him of his infection.
District 9 Flaws
Lead character Wikus Van De Merwe is fluent in the alien language when it is convenient, but not when it mattered. Also, at the end of the film, why would Wikus completely transform into an exact alien prawn, when he doesn’t have the DNA makeup. He should have transformed into a hybrid alien, not the exact same.
The Action
District 9 has a decent amount of action, but the majority of it is saved till the last 25 minutes.
The Effects
The mothership hovering over Johannesburg looked good, but can be achieved with After Effects. The Aliens looked sort of cheezy, almost laughable and a little too much like Predator.
When Wikus hops into the robot suit, the special effects really were decent, but it didn’t last long.
Why should I watch it?
If you feel the need to watch a decent science fiction story that doesn’t break a lot of new ground, or will dazzle you with effects.
What’s bad about it?
The Prawns had too much mumble jumble in the film, it was irritating to hear them communicate. The ending pissed me off a bit as well, I expected bigger things when the mother ship’s power was restored. Why wouldn’t they rescue the 2 million aliens still left on earth?
What I learned
Aliens never have telepathic power, and rely on crude weaponry like guns and grenades, and hand to hand combat.
The Verdict
District 9 will appeal to the die-hard sci-fi fans, but will leave those in search of an excellent night of home theater a little disappointed.
