Saturday, April 3, 2010

District 9


So, it took us a while but we finally netflixed District 9, this is a movie that for some reason seemed to come and go in the theatres without much fanfare. I think it had to do with the trailers. They didn't really make me want to see it, I was mildly interested. But I don't think the powers that be cast the trailers in the right light. I mainly put it on our queue because a friend was raving about it and John really wanted to see it.

Let me tell you, it was a great movie. Suspenseful, well-edited, great creatures, and a satisfying resolution. The alien creatures themselves were very bug like and I thought about them a lot last night (we watched it yesterday) and overall I was on the edge of my seat. Yes, some scenes were just drawn out a bit, but overall it's a pretty tight story. With plenty of references to modern day evils like military business, merciless mafia kingpins, and apathetic worker bees. Not to mention the ignorance and scorn of the populace. The story is really about what happens when one poor, hapless chap gets put in charge (by his father-in-law) of the eviction of the aliens to a camp much further away from the rest of civilization. You follow his story, and he embodies the every man, which is what makes the story so real and interesting.

I don't want to give away any more of the plot. I just recommend the movie and I'm surprised there wasn't more buzz about this movie when it was out. It's a great rental.

2 comments:

Geoff said...

I liked Avatar and thought it was beautiful, but District 9 deals with the same themes in a much more sophisticated way. Audiences like rooting for cute aliens more than for ugly ones.

ajc said...

I agree, people do generally like to root for the cute aliens. But I also think the marketing just wasn't quite right for District 9. I thought it was a great movie and so did John. And I think John was right in there for the target audience for this, and the trailers just didn't make me or him want to see it.