Original in parts, too convenient in others

Rating: 7/10 (26 September 2009)

"District 9" is one of the more original action-movies of the year. Without any stars in its cast it managed to generate a buzz, simply because the story is something you don't get everyday. (I'm too lazy to sum it up here, so please just check out the official IMDb plot summary) Also: The CGI is almost flawless (the prawn-like aliens look really convincing), whereas the main character is appropriately flawed. He's not a clean cut hero, but a nice guy who just has to deal with a series of really unfortunate things happening to him - which makes him all the more sympathetic.
In a way "District 9" reminded me of "E.T.". You root for the aliens and against your own race, because in these movies humans only seem to think about violence, war and profit. "District 9" is, of course, much bleaker than "E.T.", almost misanthropic, which takes away some of the fun. I'm not sure if the movie is intended to be a comment on Apartheid in any way - seeing how it's set in South Africa and how the aliens are forced to live in ghettos -, but if it is, its message sure ain't very deep. "District 9" has nothing else to say than that you deserve death and will be killed if you are a bad person. All the bad guys get shot or literally torn apart at some point. This leads to a third act that consists of nothing but people shooting each other. It's kinda exhausting.
What bothered me even more was that some plot points just fall into place too conveniently. For instance: The fluid that transforms humans into prawn people is the same ultra-rare fluid that aliens use as petrol. Another thing: The prawn people can turn transformed humans back to their normal self. How? When would they ever have performed that procedure?
Well, maybe some of these things will be explained in the sequel, that the ending of "District 9" obviously begs for. A "Return To District 9" could actually be quite interesting, maybe explore areas that the first part hasn't touched, yet (where do the aliens come from? What's our hero's fate?). This first part, however, is just solid entertainment. Nothing more and nothing less.