When minuses don't make a difference

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2009)

I gave this film 8 out of 10 because there where two major flaws which I had to count as minus points in the final rating. The first one is that the movie is too much like a Rambo movie at some points. Millions of bullets flying around and hitting no one, or at least no one important. The second has to do with only one scene but it suggests a possible deeper problem of the script. Of all millions huts in District 9, our hero, when chased by the military, ends up by pure accident in exactly the right one (adding more details to this would make me have to check that "contains spoiler" box, and I don't want to do that). Such a turn of events puts the viewer's good faith at great pains, but there are plenty of good things to compensate for these weak spots (that could have been easily avoided, in my opinion). Without a doubt, the best thing about the movie is the originality of the story. I mean, you can search all over, but you will find no other movie that makes a social problem out of a first degree contact. The deeper social critique of the movie may not be immediately accessible to everyone, so I will not go into it here. The ending is beautiful and it leaves you in a wonderful state of suspense, though some may experiment this as uncomfortable and unconcluding. But concluding is the last thing this ending should have been and the worst thing the producers can do is think of making a sequel. But knowing Peter Jackosn a sequel is the least we can expect.