A wild, gruesome, kinetic epic with a big heart.

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2009)

I went into District 9 expecting a 2 hour mockumentary but I got far more than I bargained for. The first half hour or so is indeed an entertaining mockumentary but then (fairly suddenly and shockingly) the film shrugs the pretence and moves into a more straightforward story, though still on hand-held camera for the most part.
There haven't been too many films in the past few years that really hit a satisfying note with me on both an emotional level and also on a level of pure (or some may say puerile) entertainment, but District 9 did both. You can watch it as an effective, thought provoking commentary on the nature of segregation, poverty and mans inhumanity to man; or you can watch it as a violent (and oh is it violent!) video game with possibly the best special effects I've seen on a movie screen since the original Jurassic Park.
Fair warning, it's a bloody movie - the third act is filled with decapitation, dismemberment and exploding bodies; but it's also filled with intelligence and a poignant, powerful message that there might just be hope for compassion left in us yet.
I won't go so far as to call District 9 a masterpiece, but it was a tremendously well-executed, occasionally moving, always fascinating movie. You could do far, far worse than dropping twelve bucks on this one.