Worthy, original blend of horror sci-fi thrills, hard sci-fi themes, and social satire.

Rating: 8/10 (17 August 2009)

(Relax, no spoilers here) Please ignore the twits who've lately been rating this "one star" or any such nonsense. I sometimes wonder of there's a negative vote-bombing campaign going on? A fair and realistic score for District 9 is: 8/10 Make no mistake. District 9 is excellent and well worth your ticket. It isn't perfect. But it is excellent and quite original.
I won't rehash the plot. The film blends influences, ranging from Robocop to Starship Troopers, to that hand-held documentary style.
Some have called it the next "Aliens". I disagree. It doesn't have the empathy or character development of Aliens. The hero embarks on an arduous struggle, yes, but the film ultimately sacrifices pathos for satire. You'll be rooting for certain characters by the end. But there's no pure hero to follow from beginning to end (like Ripley).
Also, it's not a particularly suspenseful or scary film. Really, it's just not that similar to Aliens, other than the two films both broadly being lumped under "horror/sci-fi".
The ending is great, and the film is exhilarating in parts, as seemingly hopeless situations suddenly take a turn for the better.
The effects are *AWESOME*. I walked out of the cinema thinking "This only cost $30million??".
I haven't got a clue how the makers of Transformers 2 or GI Joe managed to blow $200million on such boring, forgettable movies. Maybe they literally burned crates full of money in all those fires and explosions? Go see District 9, and put Hollywood on notice.
No more cartoon wars based on toys, or rehashes of superheroes, TV shows, or old movies.
We want original and thoughtful sci-fi, full of genuine conflict, and this movie shows how it's done. Well done Neill Blomkamp and Peter Jackson! Let's hope James Cameron's "Avatar" is this much fun.