Reviews & Ratings for
District 9 (2009)

District 9 is a film co-written and directed by Neil Blomkamp base on his own short film Alive in Joburg. I saw this film just because I have an interest in the sci-fi genre. But mind you this is not your normal sci-fi film that has special effects and larger than life action. It is something different. That is why I loved the film.

Plot: Wikus van der Werwe is an Employee of the MNU. While serving an eviction notice to an alien colony (District 9), he accidentally exposes himself to some fluid to drastic consequences.

Story and direction: The film is shot in a semi-documentary style. Which is somewhat different for a sci-fi genre film. I liked that move. And you would be expecting a lot of guns blazing, violence, etc.. That is there. But it is quite secondary in the film. This film basically deals with loneliness (that the protagonist faces after a tragedy). Wikus's pain and anguish is very nicely written in the film. Also aliens are mostly shown as some supreme beings with a lot of super powers and stuff. But here they are shown as oppressed individuals. Which too is something different.

Acting: Sharlto Copley as Wikus actually killed it. We see 2 different sides of his character: one as the employee of MNU, who is indifferent towards the aliens and other as a saddened individual who is forced to ally with the aliens. David James as the sadistic Koobus Vanter is also a bad-ass villain. The rest of the supporting cast is also good.

VFX: This is the department where I felt the film lacked finesse. Sometimes the VFX was looking very superficial. Motion capture was already quite developed by this time. But yes the budget would not allow that.

Favorite scene: I guess it would be the scene where Wikus puts on the alien suit and kills the MNU soldiers. The suit reminded me of the climax of Aliens where Ripley finds some kind of armor and fights off the alien queen.

Verdict: I enjoyed the film a lot. It was kind of different than your normal sci-fi films. But yes as I said the VFX wasn't great.

I would give it a 9/10.