You will not be disappointed, unless......

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2009)

.....you believe the best of the genre is embodied in epic stories involving transformational encounters with an advanced (or otherwise terrifying) species who has a specific goal in mind with regard to the human race.
The kind of movie where aliens are magnificently different than their human counterparts.
This is not that kind of movie.
If you believe, however, that the best science fiction is allegorical...that it is at its best when it reduces the close encounter to an intelligent and emotional story of what is "alien" in each of us, you won't be disappointed.
Critics of District 9 do have their points: it does demand that you suspend disbelief and "buy" the storyline.....that you accept the alternative world created by the opening segment. And in demanding that, it does color some of that world with a broad brush that undeniably leaves those infamous "plot holes": though in fairness, many of them are simply the result of the immensity of the backstory, and will linger because the storyline works, and your imagination has been piqued.
So you'll have to get passed the validity of the criticisms. But -hey- it's a movie, and all movies share them to some degree. The point being that the movie is not formulaic....if that's what you're looking for when you put down your money, then this movie is not for you.
It's more challenging that most for that reason. Accept the challenge, and you will discover an intriguing and entertaining story, gritty in its realism, with a good blend of "movie magic" and subtle character motivations.