A great premise turns into a glorified mess.

Rating: 3/10 (14 August 2009)

When I went to see "District 9" at the midnight release, I was nothing short of excited. Having been largely disappointed by most every major summer release thus far, I was optimistic about "District 9," considering the awesome premise, thoroughly enjoyable previews and build-up, and the fact that it was produced by one Peter Jackson, who has yet to disappoint with his trade-mark fantastical epics.
Indeed, the first 45 minutes or so of the film set up the potential for what could have been a great mystery or psychological thriller. "There's a lot of secrets in District 9," as we are told in the film's opening mockumentary sequence; secrets including a treasure-trove of derelict alien weapons and technology, crime-rings, both human and alien, etc. A whole slew of plot options become available. Are the alien's secretly planning a coup against their oppressive human "protectors?" Does our would-be investigator slowly uncover the mysterious reason for the aliens' landing 20 years ago?
We eventually discover that the aliens are being exploited by human weapons researchers for their own profit, a revelation which comes, in my mind, far too soon. At this point, abandoning all its finer, more subtle points, "District 9" turns into nothing more than one long action sequence, with less suspense than the last Indiana Jones movie, and more unnecessarily graphic violence than "Tropic Thunder." Most of the plot is good enough for a B+ video game, at best, especially when one considers that the only thing standing in the way of the aliens and their stash of high tech weaponry, and hence liberation, is their insatiable addiction to cat food (pretty weak reason for voluntary submission and cultural castration, if you ask me).
I do praise the film for its remarkably low budget, and surprisingly good acting. Sharlto Copley did a decent job, considering the frantic nature of the script. It was almost as if there was no longer any room for dialog amidst so much chasing and shooting, as if the entirety of the film's plot and character development were condensed entirely into the first forty five minutes or so, leaving the lasers and cranial bores to do the talking for the remainder of the film's nearly two-hour run time.The action itself, though mildly entertaining, offers no clear distinction between this movie's special effects and those of "Transformers," "G.I. JOE," or any other plot-less "orgy of computer-generated destruction porn" (to quote Stephen Colbert on analyzing this year's summer blockbusters).
In terms of the film's overall message, the decision of having the aliens land in Johannesburg, once ground-zero for Apartheid, is a clever, but ultimately obvious and shallow metaphor for actual racism. One shouldn't need to look at a seven-foot, sentient shrimp to know that the exploitation of others based on physical and cultural differences is wrong. Indeed, for a movie that promised so much in the line of good sci-fi,mystery, and a unique premise, "District 9" is sorely disappointing.