Highly Overrated!

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2009)

District 9 centers around the slum of the same name that a race of aliens were sent into by the U.S. government. During a relocation effort the main character is infected with alien DNA and he must join up with and alien and his son so they can get home and he can get back his humanity.
Sounds interesting right, well it really isn't. Don't get me wrong the concept is extremely original and the way it is done is also not like any other sci-fi movie I have ever seen, but in the end it just doesn't work that well.
To start with none of the characters were interesting or well developed. The main character was extremely weak. First of all the actor portraying him wasn't very good, and Second of all his personality would change from scene to scene. At the beginning of the movie he was portrayed a silly and somewhat comical character and then suddenly things get serious and the audience is supposed to care what happens to him. He was defined by what was happening to him instead of what type of person he was. If something funny was happening then he was a funny character, if something sad then he was a sympathetic character. The only back story we were given on the character is that his step dad wasn't very nice and he occasionally made things for his wife.
Connecting with any of the alien characters was also difficult as they were completely CGI and just spoke in weird sounds. How can you truly connect with a character with no voice and no real face. The villain was absolutely absurd and out of nowhere as well as having the magical unkillable gene that so many dumb villains do. He narrowly escaped death more times than I can count and of course they had to have the cliché showdown between him and the main character at the end. The audience was given no explanation for his hate of the aliens and at one point in the movie he actually said "I can't believe I get paid for this, I love watching you aliens die." Now that's just bad writing.
Despite the interesting concept the plot was no picnic either. Most of the action scenes had almost no setup and in essence no meaning. And with every good point there was a plot hole to cancel it out.
I was also left with a number of questions, for instance: Why was Van De Merwe not sedated when they were going to operate on him? Why was it so easy for Van De Merwe to escape the military base, didn't he run out into a crowded street? Why did it take so long for them to find him when he not only had his phone on but continued to call his girlfriend? How did Van De Merwe and the alien escape once they had the tube? Where was Van De Merwe planning to go when he flew the spaceship away? How did he figure out how to fly it so quick? Why did the Nigerians want a bunch of weapons they couldn't use? How come one second the spaceship is crashed and Van De Merwe couldn't fly it then the alien jumps in and it is just fine?
At many points the drama felt like drama for drama's sake. Not only do they have to cattle prod him to get him to shoot but they also make him shoot a live alien?
So overall it isn't by any means one the worst movies I have ever seen, but not near one of the best either. This should not be on the Top 250, let alone at 28 or wherever it is, and I don't see what exactly sets it apart from so many other mediocre sci-fi epics we have seen over the years.