Alright, we passed along the Comic-Con coverage, I’ve had my say, we’ve talked to the film’s star and we’ve offered up a road map of links to whet your appetite as you wait to give Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9” a look this weekend. There’s nothing left to do but open the floor up to the readership, so come on back and give us your thoughts when you see the film. Also, for fun, any stabs at opening weekend box office numbers? It could go SO many different ways.
Comments
17 responses to “Tell us what you thought of ‘District 9’”
30 mil? The word is great but its very genre-oreinted. Might not be wide interest.
Pretty good. Pretty Damn Good. This, along with Up, Hangover, Trek, Hurt Locker, and (500) days of Summer, are the sole bright spots in a summer rife with mediocrity and the merely average.
For me, it was the definite winner of the summer. I loved it. I definitely wanna see it again. I also would now love to see Blomkamp and Jackson get the Halo project again, but I know they’re not going that route anymore.
Saw it last night at the Arclight. Think they had three sold out screenings. Haven’t had an audience that buzzed after a movie in YEARS. It’s going to be big.
As for the movie, I got District 69’d and loved every second of it.
2nd favorite movie of the year, next to Moon. Action sequences blow away anything else from this year, and Sharlto Copley as Wikus was fantastic.
Dennis
Really astounding entry into the genre of sci-fi. If I were to choose a lesser similar movie (aesthetically), I’d say this:
The action scenes are more distinctive, the acting more accomplished, the directorial choices more adept, the visual effects more seamlessly integrated, and the storyline more functional and better-integrated than anything in “Terminator Salvation.” As I’ve gotten a new blog and changed my grading system, I’ll say that I’d give it an easy A, right on par with “Star Trek,” and maybe better. Mindblowing stuff.
Hate to be a wet blanket, but I’ll have to settle for “pretty good”. It feels a tad gimmicky past the opening 20 minutes with the constant docu-style filming, the scarred stereotypical Nigerian snarling dogs totally go against the apartheid allegory and the chisled/bald guy villain? Really?
It does pack a pretty good punch at times and the second half is kinetic and visually pleasing, plus Wikus’ arc is rather extraordinary, but it didn’t quite win me over. It’s not even close to being a “masterpiece”, not even a great genre film.
Very good but not great. I felt it had the best VFX so far this year (even better than Transformers 2). While I enjoyed the final act with its brutal violence, it didn’t give me that rush that the best action sequences do. Although I did find that last shot to be quite touching.
But back to the VFX, at times I couldn’t believe I was watching CG. I think it’s gonna be a toss up for best VFX at the Oscars next year: Avatar, Transformers 2, and District 9. Trek’s was great but District 9’s was better.
I very much liked District 9, though I didn’t LOVE it the way my brothers (who saw it with me) and most of the critics do.
Oddly enough, it’s one of the few films I’ve seen where the middle was the best part.
Oh, and if this wasn’t a science fiction film, Sharlto Copley would be in the Best Actor race.
Great ambition and a real success in terms of setting up an environment where all of this is even halfway believable but it falls apart after a certain point and loses the power of its themes. I’m sure it’s leagues better than G.I. Joe and Transformers but it’s nothing to get too excited about for me.
“Oh, and if this wasn’t a science fiction film, Sharlto Copley would be in the Best Actor race.”
I agree.
The film is good. It’s not revolutionary… but 3 or 4 years ago it probably would’ve been.
Saw the movie last night, and I absolutely loved it; Wall-E aside, I can’t remember the last time I was this impressed by a science-fiction film. The action sequences – seemingly inspired by sections of Halo and Half-Life – are genuinely intense, the visual effects are some of the absolute best that I’ve seen in a film, Copley’s performance as Wikus is surprisingly one of the more engaging ones I’ve seen in awhile. And everything, including the aliens themselves, feels grounded in reality.
I’ll have to see it again, but I think that District 9 may actually dethrone Coraline (which is virtually tied with Up) as my absolute favorite movie of the year so far, which is also to say that it’s one of my top ten favorite movies of all time.
I think I’ll join the “good but not great” camp. It does an excellent job relaying allegorical themes in a stark, original setting, and even though it borrows a bit from other films in the sci-fi genre (“The Fly” and “Aliens” leapt most readily to mind for me), it’s a movie that feels entirely new. The action scenes toward the end are a tad repetitive, and I couldn’t quite engage with the characters emotionally. But overall, it’s well-paced, well-acted (Copley was terrific), and exciting, and it features first-rate special effects that don’t announce themselves as first-rate special effects. Well worth a trip to the theatre.
Joining the good, not great.
Liked the beginning. Parts of the middle bugged me. The ending was powerful.
The lead actor was very impressive, for his 1st time out.
All this discussion of racial/religious/apartheig/Nigerian stuff … I’ve seen TONS of offensive-type films that revolved around these themes, and, while I wasn’t wild about it. It did not detract or add to my overall feeling of the movie, at all.
Editing – good. Make-Up – incredible. Sound – wonderful. Score – good.
Overall, I liked it. Wasn’t going ga ga or anything. Over-hype kills everything.
I loved it. There was one thing though, one slightly spoiler-y thing, that bugged me. When he was in that giant robot thing towards the end, can you say Iron Man? And that scene dragged, further reminding me of the draggy scene towards the end of Iron Man.
I really liked it. Certainly different although I was taken by surprise how much it borrowed from The Fly. Never expected that. Really good lead performance.
chuck