Garbage

Rating: 3/10 (28 March 2010)

No, really – literally. This is what you'll be seeing for a better part of 2 hours on the screen - garbage. Lots of it. Aliens digging in it, the hero being repeatedly thrown into it, the inevitable cliché ruthless mercenaries fighting in it.
I won't even bother describing the weak social message the movie tries to get across (or at least we are told that it does, I tried to look for it but could not figure it out). It is hopelessly lost in the incredulous plot, pointless action and piles of garbage.
There is only one full-time human role, that of Wikus – the main hero. The "prawns" are of about Cronenberg's Fly quality, but what was acceptable back in 1986 just does not cut it anymore. The only, as I said, full-time human character's performance is impressive if you are impressed by an actor with only one look on his face – permanent desperation, and two ways to deliver his words – pleading breathlessly or screaming hysterically. I hope that Sharlto Copley can do better than that, because here the screenplay did not leave him much room for any other emotion. Not a lot of room when you are standing knee-deep in garbage.
Technically the movie is substandard for a 2009 flick of any budget. There is an alien ship painted in the sky, a few alien guns with action so familiar from Doom and Half-Life, and even a (spoiler?) ubiquitous battlebot. Its movements are about as lifelike as those of the first Terminator. The jittering "handycam footage" style is hard on the eyes even on your TV screen. I'm glad I did not go to the theatre – the motion sickness prone spectators could barf. On the other hand, there is enough visual content there that can cause the same reaction. Remember – garbage.
I cannot believe that IMDb audience rated this movie so high, almost on par with Avatar. The latter was often criticized for a weak screenplay. I can agree to an extent. Nevertheless, Avatar compensates with scenes of incredible beauty. With District 9 the gaping holes in the plot are landfilled with garbage.
PS -- I read a few more reviews to try to understand why could anyone -- capable of writing a review -- like this film. I could not. People call it Sci-Fi. Excuse me, there is most definitely no Sci here. Aliens living in garbage -- not Sci. There is also no Fi -- fiction is something that assumes a coherent story. No folks, still nothing but garbage.