Escape to the Movies: District 9
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Ok, sorry if this is thread necro, but the 'joyful' people behind movie release times have finally allowed us UK people to see the film, and I have to say, Movie Bob is spot on; its a fanatastic movie, full of action, full of brains, full of heart, its an excellent film with excellently crafted characters and CGI effects to die for and a plot that is superbly great.
A must watch for anyone who even remotely likes sci-fi or action. Be warned, however, the 15 label is there for a reason, and its not a film for the youngersters.
Edit: Damn, I want it on DVD now or something. I need to see it again.
A must watch for anyone who even remotely likes sci-fi or action. Be warned, however, the 15 label is there for a reason, and its not a film for the youngersters.
Edit: Damn, I want it on DVD now or something. I need to see it again.
I didn't watch your review until AFTER I had seen the movie, but to show you where I stand with your viewpoint about this movie, I'll just quote what I posted on facebook as soon as I got in the door to my house after seeing it:
"If you haven't seen District 9, you need to. Right now. Are you gone yet? Why are you still here. It's still playing. See it. See it now. Why are you still reading this when you could be on the way to see District 9. You'll regret it i...f you don't. I can't believe you're still reading this. I'm going to count to 3, and by the time I hit 3, you need to be out the door, ok? 1, 2, I'm serious... 3. No? It's your loss."
I was cut off due to space restrictions, but as you can see, I am of exactly the same mind as you, MovieBob. No-one needs to know WHY they need to see this movie, and telling them anything plot related would spoil it. Just go see it. You'll like it. Just trust us. It's that good.
I actually got Shushed in the theater I was so gushy about how awesome this movie was. Every little nuance that I wanted to discuss with my friends, I couldn't wait until after the movie ended. I had to talk about it now. NOWWWW. I got shushed.. and I politely shut my trap, but damn this movie was excellent.
At the end of the movie, I sat through ALL the credits. I wasn't really hoping for a post-credit teaser.. The movie didn't exactly set up for a sequel, and it would definitely be pushing it if they made one. I just wanted to pay homage to all the hard working people that made the movie. I was in my seat, with my friends, until the lights and the vacuum cleaners turned on.
"If you haven't seen District 9, you need to. Right now. Are you gone yet? Why are you still here. It's still playing. See it. See it now. Why are you still reading this when you could be on the way to see District 9. You'll regret it i...f you don't. I can't believe you're still reading this. I'm going to count to 3, and by the time I hit 3, you need to be out the door, ok? 1, 2, I'm serious... 3. No? It's your loss."
I was cut off due to space restrictions, but as you can see, I am of exactly the same mind as you, MovieBob. No-one needs to know WHY they need to see this movie, and telling them anything plot related would spoil it. Just go see it. You'll like it. Just trust us. It's that good.
I actually got Shushed in the theater I was so gushy about how awesome this movie was. Every little nuance that I wanted to discuss with my friends, I couldn't wait until after the movie ended. I had to talk about it now. NOWWWW. I got shushed.. and I politely shut my trap, but damn this movie was excellent.
At the end of the movie, I sat through ALL the credits. I wasn't really hoping for a post-credit teaser.. The movie didn't exactly set up for a sequel, and it would definitely be pushing it if they made one. I just wanted to pay homage to all the hard working people that made the movie. I was in my seat, with my friends, until the lights and the vacuum cleaners turned on.
I'm gonna be the odd man out here and say that I do not know what people see in this movie. It's a decent Sci-Fi movie sure, but people are heralding it as if its the next "Star Wars" or something. So here's why I didn't like it.
For one, the story was stupid. I don't understand why the aliens just took all that crap from the humans. They were CLEARLY a lot more agile and physically capable than everyone (the way they kept jumping around and shit), and they had WAY better guns. And yet, they just sat there and let themselves get pushed around like little bitches. Would it have been better if they had been evil and fought back? No, that would have been expected, but it still doesn't help the main concept. As for the whole social relevance of the idea, and how it ties in to modern society, I felt the movie itself lacked enough depth to really have any strong, thematic impact. They're aliens that communicate by garbling and jumping around on rooftops. It's sort of hard for to me to relate their plight to that of any humans.
Second, where is ALL THIS AWESOME ACTION everyone keeps talking about? There's ONE good action sequence. Sure, it lasts quite a while, but then that's it. That is seriously the ONLY good action in the whole movie, and it happens at the end.
Third, I felt absoloutely NO emotional connection to these characters. The protagonist was a total prick for the first part of the movie, and he was clearly set up to be that way. Then, he has his little "spray" incident, and suddenlly we're suppose to feel bad for him? WHY? Because he misses his wife? Boo-hoo.
Although I'm being a little harsh, I simply see this film as being mediocre. Sure, it's an interesting concept, but the concept itself is full of holes, and isn't pulled off that well. How can the aliens and humans understand each other almost perfectly? I just wish they couldn've taken 3 seconds to explain that. There is not that much action, despite what everyone else seems to be saying, and the acting itself was decent, at best. In retrospect, I suppose the ending was a little sad, but overall, District 9 just seemed quite average to me.
For one, the story was stupid. I don't understand why the aliens just took all that crap from the humans. They were CLEARLY a lot more agile and physically capable than everyone (the way they kept jumping around and shit), and they had WAY better guns. And yet, they just sat there and let themselves get pushed around like little bitches. Would it have been better if they had been evil and fought back? No, that would have been expected, but it still doesn't help the main concept. As for the whole social relevance of the idea, and how it ties in to modern society, I felt the movie itself lacked enough depth to really have any strong, thematic impact. They're aliens that communicate by garbling and jumping around on rooftops. It's sort of hard for to me to relate their plight to that of any humans.
Second, where is ALL THIS AWESOME ACTION everyone keeps talking about? There's ONE good action sequence. Sure, it lasts quite a while, but then that's it. That is seriously the ONLY good action in the whole movie, and it happens at the end.
Third, I felt absoloutely NO emotional connection to these characters. The protagonist was a total prick for the first part of the movie, and he was clearly set up to be that way. Then, he has his little "spray" incident, and suddenlly we're suppose to feel bad for him? WHY? Because he misses his wife? Boo-hoo.
Although I'm being a little harsh, I simply see this film as being mediocre. Sure, it's an interesting concept, but the concept itself is full of holes, and isn't pulled off that well. How can the aliens and humans understand each other almost perfectly? I just wish they couldn've taken 3 seconds to explain that. There is not that much action, despite what everyone else seems to be saying, and the acting itself was decent, at best. In retrospect, I suppose the ending was a little sad, but overall, District 9 just seemed quite average to me.
Ill be the second then, I pretty much agree with everything you have said. In terms of connecting to the characters? Which characters were we supposed to like exactly? The adult alien trying to get home I sympathised with, but had no emotional connection to anyone else. So for me solid sci-fi? Yea sure. Film of the summer? Nope, I saw that the week before 'The Hurt Locker', go see that instead.SonicKoala said:
Then you're probably not capable of emotionally connecting with any character, he starts turning into the thing which everyone (including himself) hates, gets rejected by the rest of humanity and has various horrible things done to him by his ex co-workers but you cant feel at all sorry for him? Nice one.SonicKoala said:
I would be overjoyed to see more of the film through a sequel, yet at the same time that ending was so perfect it just wouldn't seem right..Altorin said:
No, I can't, because, for one, he was a total douche at the beginning of the movie so you can't help but feel that he had it coming, and two, his acting was certaintly less than stellar, to say the least. I am more than capable of emotionally connecting with characters provided that they are well developed, and the actor/actress can actually sell it. That did not happen in District 9. And also, the part near the end of the movie where he almost FUCKED UP EVERYTHING HE'D BEEN WORKING TOWARDS because of his tendency towards dickery (you know what part I mean) sort of ruined any chance I had of feeling sorry for this guy. Just as I was starting to warm up, BOOM, Douche is back. Serioiusly, no need to do the whole sarcastic guilt trip tone ("Nice One" - really?), that's my opinion of the movie, and I feel that i've backed up my opinion to the point where it's justified.flaming_squirrel said:
Unlike characters in a lot of American action/sci-fi movies he wasn't some testosterone fueled gorilla who ***** slaps the enemy while scoffing apple pie in the other hand, no, he was HUMAN. Due to this important fact that he didn't have balls the size of a tank when he was thrown into such a situation he flipped out, which would cause most people to do things that someone observing the situation would recognise as being a douche.SonicKoala said:
You're just watching it and thinking "omg y he do that" when if you try to consider it from the point of view of the character in such a situation it becomes more understandable. Also you should know why he almost screwed everything up, that's a fuck long time to wait.
It's spelled "fuelled", and i've never seen a character "scoff" apple pie (look up the definition). Just because he's reacting to certain situations the way most people would doesn't change the fact that he is, all in all, a totally unlikeable character. The fact is, the main problem I have with the character is the unconvincing performance that Sharlto Copley gave. You liked the movie, that's fine, but I'm sick of all this unjustified praise this movie is receiving. It's not that special. It's a decent sci-fi movie, nothing more, nothing less.flaming_squirrel said:
i love district 9 one of the BEST movies ever! and the coolest part about D9 is: that there was NO script. seriously no joke. the actors were given a discription of the scene and then made up their own lines as they acted out the scene(is that why the story is so awsome and realistic it was loosly concieved then built with real authentic reactionsÉ most likely) the only downside is that the movie is pepered with south african slang so there might not be words we understand but oh well it doesnt take away from the awsomeness it adds lol
yah thats the one thing i dont like about nbob he hates halo and doesnt even try to get the entire (epic if i may say) story to halo. seriously if they could pull off district nine with no script and a loose idea of how the scenes will play out im more than possitive they could pull off a halo movie with halos amaizing back story (not D9 quality but better than max payne like a 7/10 or 8/10 not epic not bad but pretty good)
actually it totally sets up for a sequel cause will he come back and save his race what happens the will the guy get turned back will he see his wife again and yah i agree i wil probly be streched as most sequels are but there a good chance the sequel will be good not epic like the first but totally enjoyable like spiderman 2 though it could end up like spiderman three so if they do make a sequel i got my fingers crossedAltorin said:
well if your sick of it then shutup and go away we like it let us like it but quit hating on it cause its not some terminator 2/bj blaskowitz/duke nukem-esque character and cant relate to characters who dont have biceps bigger than then their heads and your comment on the aliens "fighting back" would yield the same results as if only the jews where to fight back against hitler and the nazis. seriously the aliens may of had wmds in hand held format but the pmc controled the majority of the guns like one tenth of the aliens would have guens and the rest would have rocks and teeth. they were out manned and out gunned by one pmc let alone all the armies on earth. and the movie in general kicked ass it had the right propordion of everything with the exception of a script because there was none but that just makes the movie better seriously wats so shitty about the movie and dont say the character was an unlikable douche cause then yoor just saying every realistic person in the world is a douche (cause it aint true theyre dicks and assholes)and if its because its silently screams tolerance and racism go screw yourself and i dont care if i get banned or something for that i rarely use the forums n e ways so go screw yourself the characters were realistic and deep the story was good effects were better and violence and gore was well over the top of the just enough line for this kind of movie long story short good movie and if you dont like it cause everything was realistic go shove it up your tailpipe!SonicKoala said:
Okay, you are a die hard fan boy of this movie, and you really need to get over the fact that not everybody is going to love this as much as you clearly do. Secondly, I firmly believe that one is allowed to express their opinion provided they have justification for it. I'm fully aware that the main character wasn't some hyper-masculine super hero. I hate characters like that, what does that have to do with anything? You're saying that just because the main character of the movie isn't like that, then I have to instantly like him just because he shows more emotion than a sponge? That's bullshit, so no, I don't have to like him just because YOU tell me to. Can you not take from my comment that what I mostly disliked was his ACTING? He wasn't a very good actor! He DIDN'T sell the performance.L9OBL said:
Secondly, I never said the movie SHOULD have had the aliens fighting back, that would have been expected, and hence would have made the movie worse. I questioned WHY they didn't fight back. They don't really seem to have a purpose being there at all, and the fact that these beings which had superior physical abilities and superior technology just totally gave in to all these humans who treated them like shit was a STUPID concept. Sure, it's original, but that doesn't mean it makes the story good. You also said (and mind you, i'm paraphrasing here, since your rant is rittled with poor grammar and spelling) "there was a good balance of everything with the exception of a script, which there was none, but that made the movie better." Um... okay. First of all, the movie had a script - it was poorly written, and the lack of a script wouldn't make the movie better. That would be called improvisation, and movies tend to avoid such a style (just so you know!)
You also seem to dismiss my claim that the unlikeability of the main character is not an acceptable reason to dislike the movie. Also, since this character is more "realistic", this then makes him the EXACT same as every single other person in the entire world (because we AREN'T all snowflakes, according to you), and therefore disliking him means I dislike all of humanity. I'm sorry, but that is argument is just SO STUPID and so illogical that i'm not even going to bother addressing it. You're retarded if you think that.
I'm not too sure what you mean by "it silently screams tolerance and racism". That seems to contradict itself. How can a movie have a message of tolerance and racism at the same time? I'm sorry if you think those words are synonyms, but they aren't (sorry to break it to you). As for this underlying message which undoubtedly is a reference to the days of Apartheid, that's a nice idea and all, but any chance of that concept having any significant thematic impact was lost in the cluster-fuck of a poorly-written script and mediocre acting. Thank you for telling me to "go screw myself" twice in the span of about 20 words, i'll be sure to get right on that. As for this claim that "all the characters were realistic and deep", no, they weren't. Yes, the main character showed more emotion than your average action hero. That DOESNT MAKE THE MOVIE GOOD, stop USING THAT AS JUSTIFICATION THAT THIS MOVIE WAS AMAZING! There are PLENTY of science-fiction movies that feature characters who are "realistic", it takes MORE than that to make a movie good. It takes GOOD ACTING for one! It also takes a GOOD STORY. District 9 had neither of those. District 9 was a decent science fiction movie. It is nothing special. I'm not saying I HATE it, i'm just saying that it is not deserving of all the praise its been getting.
Finally, your summarizing statement of how "if you don't like it cause everything was realistic go shove it up your tailpipe". Bravo for finding another insult rather than "go screw yourself". And really? Everything was realistic? What do you think was more realistic, the aliens? Or maybe their fisher price-looking toy guns? Or perhaps the concept that if aliens were to come to earth we'd decide that the best course of action was to establish a ghetto for them all to live in? Or maybe the idea that a race of beings sophisticated enough to master the art of space travel let themselves get treated like little bitches upon finding an inferior race of people? You really need to calm down, it's a movie. People are entitled to their own opinions. You also realise that if it wasn't for people like you who keep giving me their moronic fan-boy arguments over why I'M an idiot for not liking this movie, I would "go away".