Ok, I finally saw District 9 last night. I’ll get around to my full review and video review tomorrow, but for now here are my quick thoughts:
1) This is a VERY good movie
2) This is not the masterpiece some people are making it out to be though
3) Horrible unidimensional “bad guys” with absolutely nothing to them whatsoever (one of my big pet peeves)
4) Jaw dropping visual effects. Best I’ve seen in a LONG time. Amazing.
5) A few Michael Bay type action sequences (that’s a good thing, since it’s the one thing Bay really knows)
6) A few things were just far too “convenient” for the sake of the story
7) Brilliant performance by the lead character. I really bought into the guy.
More later.
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4.5 out of 5. It was bloody brilliant. Just like Cloverfield……The movie goer was there in the experience.
Some people need to wait 2 month more for premiere, for some films even few years :).
greetings from poland
Kacper
It was……..
AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME.
9/10/ Extremely unique and it’s nice to see that, kind of refreshing.
what’s the final rating for this movie out of 10???
So when is the full review going to pop up?
Here’s a review that makes some interesting if off-color sidebar points.
http://klogtheblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/district-9-district-9-district-9.html
This movie was excellent on all levels, very original, thoughtful and fun. Please DO NOT MAKE A SEQUEL. Can’t a story just stand up on its own without having everything wrapped up in a neat little package for the audience. Make your own ending, thats part of the fun of it all.
Also, logic problems and plot holes in this movie did not spoil the fun for me, just like they didn’t spoil Star Trek.
8/10
The movie did leave it open for the possibility of a sequel, it would be interesting to see another one of these, but do I expect it to live up to this one, no I don’t.
Very good movie. The main character Wikus van der Merwe was a great nerd turned hero in this one. Reminds me a lot of the 28 Days later character Jim(Cillian Murphy) who was weak at the start of the movie, but turned into a bad ass by the end. Can’t wait to hear it on my Home Theater when it hits DVD/Blu ray
I want to know what type technology the alien ship had to travel for 1000’s of Trillions of miles if not farther.
I just went to see D9 and liked it. I was spoiled before I saw it and I think that helped with the questions other viewers seemed to have. I remember I read several answers to questions like why the aliens where stranded and such.
Also, I didn’t really care that there wasn’t a moral resolution to the story simply because it seemed more realistic and in tune with the documentary style of the movie. I think it was supposed to show that there was no good answer to such a complicated issue as the prawns.
I’m tired of these “Quick Thoughts”, whenever you get around to getting the full review then put it up, but when you start doing these “Quick Thoughts”, they make me even more eager about what your final thoughts are. Its like “Here’s what I’m thinking, what you want to know, but I’m just gonna leave little strips of what’s going to happen in this post and keep you waiting to the next post for you to know the rest,” sounds like the ending of every single Harry Potter movie ever made.
Saw the movie on Friday, and I absolutely loved it; Wall-E aside, I can’t remember the last time I was this impressed by a science-fiction film. The action sequences – seemingly inspired by sections of Halo and Half-Life – are genuinely intense, the visual effects are some of the absolute best that I’ve seen in a film, Copley’s performance as Wikus is surprisingly one of the more engaging ones I’ve seen in awhile. And everything, including the aliens themselves, feels grounded in reality.
I’ll have to see it again, but I think that District 9 may actually dethrone Coraline (which is virtually tied with Up) as my absolute favorite movie of the year so far, which is also to say that it’s one of my top ten favorite movies of all time.
i didnt have a problem with the bad guys
to me they seemed direct representation of some of the guys that make those kind of decisions in real life. they’re heartless.
i thought the movie was perfect…i rank it up there with the dark knight
It was fantastic. I was completely taken by surprise by what I saw. I went in unspoiled, thank God, and was BLOWN AWAY.
And the ending, I have to say, damn near moved me to tears. It was that final shot that did me in, goddamit.
Kristina,
I couldn’t agree with you more. The ending was very moving. Excellent film! One of the best i’ve seen all year.
Funny the point number 4 comes before 5. I felt the special effects were so good because in every single scene they served a purpose in either building on the atmosphere, furthering the story or upping the tension. We see a lot of the guns and the mothership, for example, but once we see them do something in the third act it’s pretty surprising and badass all around. I thought it was the perfect balance between expectation and moderation.
P.S.
Yes, we do talk with “funny” accents. As do every one else that is not American. :)
As a South African this movie reminds me a lot of how life actually used to be in the apartheid era. Here the apartheid is only enforced on the aliens. There are many little things foreigners won’t pick up out of the movie. Like the lead character whom starts of as a hater, although denying it and his gradual change of heart as he actually get to know the aliens (people). There are thousands of tales of ex Apartheid police officers that went though the same transformation and struggles that the lead character did in the movie. Also google “District 6 Cape Town” which was a real relocation event that happened in apartheid South Africa during the 1970’s.
The irony I see in all this is the recent xenophobic attacks that happened in South African townships last year. You actually heard people saying the exact same thing about non South African Africans today in South Africa, than what was said about the Aliens in the movie. It is like they just took the material straight from the news channels.
Sorry to bore you with this.
i saw the movie and i loved it. The movie was very orignal and i needed to see something that was different for once. For people saying that they don’t understand how the aliens can talk to the humans if you listened closly they sound african, they lived in africa for 20 years so they are going to eventually pick up the accent. As for Luke, What? Would rather have the africans speak in an indian accent?? That’s how they fucking talk why is it a problem??? There was BIG character development wit the main character i really don’t what people are talking about that guy did an amazing job, the villians in D9 were fine there was nothing wrong wit them IMO. As for Todd W in NC and Fritzilla, THERE IS GOING TO BE A SEQUEL soo obviously those questions will be answered in D10 have some patience for frig sake, the director didn’t want to make this a frigging 3 hour movie explaining everything it will be explained remember this is the first one so relax. Give him a break
Great movie for thinking, but with a weak script and some holes as fritzilla stated. So about the sequel… War vs Humans? Most certainly. What would humans do if they were treated like the alien in D9
!!!!SPOILER!!!!
In the end, the bad guys humans, not alien…And it’s all about power. And what was the Christopher thinking has he left Earth… has he wacth is brothers butchered at MNU? Why did he left his brothers on Earth??? I think i’ll come back…with a vengeance!
Did you know they only spent 30 million on this movie?
They spent 30 million in making the film but more was spent in advertising. So it’s well beyond 30 million.
I know but I don’t think alot was spent for ads because I never really saw alot for it.
And still 30 million doesn’t seem like alot especially considering Julie & Julia cost 40 mil.
THE GUN SHOT FUCKING LIGHTNING.
If anything sticks out from the movie the most it’s the lightning gun. That was awesome. It drew huge reactions from the crowd EVERY TIME it was and did it’s thing to it’s target.
I’ve watched it twice already. It was a great film both times. Very original, very intense, and very entertaining.
I thought the film was amazing. though I didn’t like the 2nd act, I thought it was the WEAKEST. But man the movie picked up hugely at the final 30 minute mark
loved the movie,hated all the diss against Nigerians(im Nigerian)
Alphie I bet you still play with star wars figurines. This movie tries to be too much like real life, but that makes it seem even less plausible. No point to the movie. No character development. No meanings. It was like the Blair Witch Project with a higher budget. Mainly what got on my nerves is the South African accent used; when I said they talk alot I meant the aliens. The aliens have the most annoying conversations with each other. It was a craptastic movie to start and at the end they had to turn it into a common action flick. BTW you seem like someone who would think Sideways was the funniest, most hilarious movie you’ve ever seen(nerd)
My thoughts:
I agree with John. It’s very good but not great. I thought this film had some of the best CGI of the year (even better than Transformers 2). The main protagonist annoyed the hell out of me at first but once the action starts picking up I began to like the character more and more.
Really enjoyed the first two acts (which is shot almost documentary style). Enjoyed the third act but not as much as the first two being that the third act turned into a generic action picture. I also found the last shot of the film to be quite touching.
***/****
That’s…pretty spot on actually! I actually thought the first like third of the movie was almost too slow, but overall I thought it was pretty good too!
I walk into the theater with my nachos,popcorn,and my girlfriend. I’m excited to see this film because 1. it was my turn to pick the movie 2. the ratings most critics have given were talking about how awesome this movie was. Well,as I sit through the beginning of the film I quickly realize that it is the “hand-held camera” cinematography to it. I believe that it is simply annoying to have it set up this way.The cinematography is sudden and it bounces around way too much(headache) it’s like the Blair Witch Project,I wanted to puke starting off. The main character is absolutely annoying as can be. Even more annoying than that is the aliens; they have their own language and for some reason humans know what their saying; guess what they talk a lot in the film. This film had so much potential and don’t let the Peter Jackson name fool you he just “presented” it. The writer was good, but the director was God awful. Yes,there are some cool weapons later on used, but the first hour of the movie was almost unbearable to watch. This movie is the most overrated piece of junk I’ve seen in years. Please do yourself a favor and don’t like it just because a dumb critic said it was good; remember they said Sideways was funny.
Interesting. I almost agree with you. I didn’t hate it, but I’m one of the few people not blown away by it either.
My problems with the movie sound opposite to yours. I liked the documentary aspect better than the action sequences. And, I thought the directing was decent enough, but I didn’t like the script.
I agree with you also. I was underwhelmed. I was looking forward to it. Here are some of the weaknesses to me:
1) Documentary style in the first 20 mins or so then it disappears and by the end it’s full on action movie. It seemed a little unbalanced in it’s approach.
2) The the other person said, no point at all. No reflection on redemption or revenge, or fear of the unknown driving people to do things, or corporate greed. Many of those themes were there but none of them stood out and resonated.
Spoilers —– Do not Read if you haven’t seen the film——-
3) No resolution. The ending didn’t really resolve things. At least it set up a great opportunity for a sequel if that’s what they want to do.
4) The stuff can infect and also provides fuel? Doesn’t make much sense.
5) Why where they here in the first place?
6) Why where there no humans on the ship? You know studying it and such?
7) What kept it afloat for 20 years?
8) If they needed the fuel then what powered the tractor beam and did that mean they even needed the fuel.
9) Where were any of the super powers in all this? They have no interest in this at all? Seems unlikely.
10) You mean the first encounter with another alien race and we segregate them to a refugee camp? You mean no other country offered to learn from them, take them in?
11) In twenty years we can talk to them but never asked anything about the universe, their homeworld, etc…?
12) The fuel only comes from alien parts, so they scavange the district for alien parts, but these parts originally came from the ship, so why didn’t they just repair the ship with the parts while they were still on the ship?
Now for the bigger spoilers ———————
13) Are all the workers really other races, transformed? They apparently know how to reverse it so are they even in their original form?
14) Is there some alterior motive to their visit that we don’t see?
I liked it but not as much as I thought I would.
Wow. Excellent analysis, Fritzilla. I wondered some of the same things you did.
Comments on Spoilers, so Spoiler Warning Continued…
(1) Documentary Style: The documentary style was so constant for the first few minutes, that as it gradually faded away, the parts that were not documentary style felt very obvious and out of place. But, at least the movie ended with some of the documentary style footage again to bookend the movie.
(2) No Point: I felt the same way. It danced around certain moral issues but never totally committed to a single powerful message. The documentary style in parts of the movie made it feel like it would, but it never quite solidified.
(3) No Resolution: I’d say the setting up of a sequel was the one thing that really did resonate the most. I think the main point of this movie was, in fact, to create a franchise.
(4) Infection/Fuel: While strange and not explained very well, I can almost let that one go. I think it’s mentioned briefly that their technology is partially organic, and that’s made obvious by the weapons only responding to prawn DNA and the fluid-based hand interface in the prawn command module. So, while a little convenient to the plot, I can somewhat understand a fluid having both a biological effect and a shipboard purpose. Pretty powerful stuff though.
(5) & (6) Why Are They Here / Why Not Study Ship: Excellent questions. The movie doesn’t address either.
(7) & (8) How Afloat / Tractor Beam Power: Also good questions. I guess the anti-grav and mechanical systems operate on a different energy source than propulsion. I’m also not so certain that the black fluid was an energy source as much as it was a type of biotech key. But, that leads me to another question… If the prawns had antigrav and tractor beam technology, why did the command module operate like a VTOL aircraft with engines pointing down for takeoff and swiveling for forward flight. Couldn’t the craft have antigrav technology like the mothership and just “float” upward?
(9) Earth Superpowers: My friend and I discussed this topic on the way home. I think it’s mentioned early in the movie that charities, probably from the richer nations, paid attention to the prawns in the beginning. But, after a couple decades and the problem effectively contained, I think the rest of the world lost interest and got complacent about the prawns not being a global security issue. There was probably a world attitude of, “Thank goodness they didn’t land in our country.”
(10) Why Not Other Countries: I don’t think any other country would want the burden of a large group of them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if several countries got a handful of prawns each to study, interrogate, or dissect. If so, it just isn’t mentioned in the movie.
(11) Why Not Ask Them About Their Race: Good question. Maybe we did ask them that information and didn’t like what we heard.
(12) Parts Already On Ship: Ah, but then there wouldn’t have been a movie. I think you spotted a major plot hole.
(13) Races Transformed?: I wondered the exact same thing. Are these guys like the Borg? I even wondered if they were going to say that the prawns were all once human.
(14) Ulterior Motive?: Another good question.
Well, they did say that for some reason they “leadership” has abandonded the “worker” class and that’s all we see. But apparently Christopher and his friend were from the “leadership” class and they were hiding out until they could repair the ship. So, it makes sense that almost 100% of the 1.8 million or so of these aliens were pretty dimwitted and perhaps were in the dark about anything significant about their race.
Also, yeah, the DNA/organic side of things would explain why perhaps 1.8 million of the aliens couldn’t opperate the weapons. If there are two classes “workers” and “leaders” it makes sense taht the leaders wouldn’t want the workers DNA to even operate weapons. So, perhaps this is the first time they realize they found leaders that work with the weapons. Making Chistopher and Wikus very important from the other 1.8 million.
Sure the major nations could have gotten nothing out of the aliens and after 20 years said, screw it, they are no harm and they are not useful either.
Finally, why settle in Johanesburg? It makes you wonder if there is something significant about that land? Were they here before? Did they originally intent to pick up something?
And yes, the workers being human may be a very significant reveal if a sequel is greenlit.
I find after a day and after some discussions it’s sinking in a little more and settling with me. Perhaps my questions will be answered.
Ok have to try to tackle some of your points:
Spoilers —– Do not Read if you haven’t seen the film——-
1) Didn’t bother me, but each the own.
2)It was about how in a possible near future the human race might treat an alien species, and a commentary on our nature to oppress/abuse the unfamiliar/different (hence why people are applauding the originality of this movie as it doesn’t follow the typical Hollywood summer movie formula). No corporate greed? Did you miss the part of the cut up aliens? Them testing the weapons with glee with dollar signs in the eyes?
3) Yes it did leave it open, but that’s not really a bad thing IMO. Makes you use your imagination. Also that last shot was great almost twilight zone / xfiles esque feel.
4) Yeah, agree but the movie wasn’t about explaining the unknown science behind the alien tech.
5) Again agree the question is not answered but wasn’t integral to the message of the movie.
6) There may have been. It was never shown in the movie so who knows, but again wasn’t integral to the story the movie was telling.
7) Again asking a question about the unknown science behind the alien tech in which the knowledge being known to us does not directly impact the plot of the movie.
8)The fuel was needed to power the shuttle, no power to the shuttle no way to work the gizmos on the shuttle to move the mother-ship.
9) Not sure what super powers you are talking about. The aliens are bigger and stronger creature just like most mammals are stronger then humans (aka gorillas, chimps, etc…) And if you mean the power suit again only those with the alien DNA could use it so was worthless…
10) Your presuming the South African government offered or would want another country to get involved…
11) Again this point is not made aware to us if they asked them or not as its not integral to the story of the movie. But to add to this since they are simple workers with what seems to be basic minds they probably didn’t know much of anything hence why the are treated like 3rd class citizens in the movie and herded into concentration camps…
12) This is the one point I just have to flat out agree with you…
Now for the bigger spoilers ———————
13) Good question.
14) Another good question, which you could merge with the question 13 above. In my estimation its likely something else is up ;)
Yea seriously! The villains were perfect! I SERIOUSLY cant even FATHOM a more appropriate bad guy! What the HELL did you WANT, John??!!
I saw District 9 early today, by far the best movie so far, I loved it. Do u think ther is going to be a sequal, and being a sci-fi movie do u think it will do good at the box office
I am guessing 70M for the opening weekend. When you consider the aggressive ad campaign, and the great reviews I think 70M is a pretty likely target. And when you consider it’s 30M budget (which I am still amazed at) this is one profitable film.
WOAH WOAH WOAH!!!! I just saw it!!
@ANYONE
Is there going to be sequel???????
John, dude will there be a sequel??
(spoiler allert)
Remember in titanic hen the ship hits the iceberg? Imagine if that movie ended right there, thats what hapened here. BEST MOVIE EVER- But it ended so suddeny! It has “SEQUEL” written all over it, but it was SO damn good i need to know
This movie was a HUGE build up to an amazing ending, and then it ended, kinda like you knew Hulk and Abomnaion would have a big fight at the end..only that in this movie it ddnt happen…so my theory is this: sequel.
Its like i had only a taste of a really addicting drug and want more, wtf! I need to know if theres a sequel, theres no way in hell it ends like this
Fuck Halo! Peter Jackson better be making a district 10 movie whih involves all he aliens coming back and analiating mankind!
hahahaha yea I was thinkin the same thing except they dont come back to kill us, they come back to take their people back home and a war to take them back ensues.
Okay I agree with wut you said except I’m not so touchy about bad guys. I thought that was great. The one thing I gotta say is….wut do you mean “Best special effects you’ve seen in a LONG time”? ummm what was better? I mean granted there were some shots that were so obviously CG but man…the ALIENS??!! Holy shit they looked 100% REAL! You just know they’re fake is all but some of the close ups on the main alien were AMAZING!
I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!
Tavil:
There were maybe 40 people in mine (second matinée.) The movie ended…they got up…they left.
Maybe it’ll be different in the evenings. (The problem here is what I’d refer to as ‘mob mentality’. ‘Townhall meetings at the movies’. LOL) Or maybe daytime audiences regard their films differently. (There’s a video-blog subject for you, John.)
Ahh mine was packed. Probably 200 people at least.
Just got back from seeing it.
Cohesive film insofar as the execution. A steady hand at the helm, confidently directed. Well done on that front.
Considering this was, special effects notwithstanding, a film about ethics, a movie about morals, there were some elements in the story that…well…to use the scientific term, *sucked*.
I wasn’t drawn in by the tale. One of the problems with both narration and a faux-documentary approach is that the audience isn’t watching a tale unfold. They’re watching a tale being told about a tale. And as I’ve said before, this is like wearing two condoms.
Impressive…but not memorable…and in my audience, it wasn’t able to elicit much of a reaction at all.
My rating: 7/10
Funny the audience i was in had the opposite reaction. It got applause when it was over.
Cannot wait to see it
I’ve seen the trailers of this movie, and I can’t wait to see it. Comes out August 24, if I remember correctly, in Sweden, so I still have to wait.
Villians seems to be the hardest ones to “get right”, many movies got this problem. Batman did good though on this part.
Romadays
I saw the main guy as abit of a villian. I think the hero’s of the film were the alien and his son – I was rooting for them
wow Jasper, that’s spot on. Seriously, that makes so much more sense if u look at it that way.
I bet the villains in Fast & Furious were uber-complex.
Or the villains in Slumdog Millionaire.
Or the villains in every single Disney Channel show or movie ever.
One thing I’d be interested to find out but there’s no way to do so is: How much did the disappointment in Transformers 2 account for the praise for District 9. I read of a lot of comments and a few reviews that reference TF2 being a disappointment.
Cool. I want to see it, not sure if I will be able to.
Looks like im in the minority.
I didn’t like the movie much. It felt like it really dragged and that it could have been a 90-minute movie rather than a 2 hour movie. The different news clips and documentary killed the pacing of the movie i thought. It was hard to feel sympathy for the aliens because it felt like every time they started to develop a character an action sequence would break out. Contrary to john, I couldn’t buy into the lead. He was this douche and so it was hard to feel sympathy for him throughout the story.
I had a hard time buying into him too at first. But by the end i really liked him and really cared about him.
I think im going to go see it again tomorrow.
I agree a little bit. The generic action shootout at the end kind of felt like a cop-out after the edgy chracter development leading up to it.
I’ll have to join you in the minority, Roguepirate. I still liked it and thought it was a good movie, but I nowhere near loved it or thought it was excellent like most people.
In fact, it’s kind of put me a bad mood after seeing it, partially because of the depressing story, partially because I expected the film itself to be better.
I thought the special effects were its strongest element, but I wasn’t thrilled with the script, and everything else felt mediocre. I still gave it a C+, but on my scale, that’s the lowest letter grade that still translates to 3 out of 5 stars. So, it was good, but just barely.
I just got back from seeing it. I absolutely loved it.
Very well may be my top film of the year.
Was so original. I hope it does well.
Surprised by this: “Jaw dropping visual effects. Best I’ve seen in a LONG time. Amazing.”
For a movie that cost only $30 million. Holy effing shit.
whats sad is the other crap u see out there after u see this flick….really the special effectsare done amazingly and with class.
By the way, I always laugh when you write “that’s 100% accurate” or “that’s 100% correct.” Neither here nor there. Just makes me chuckle.
I only use those phrases when they are indeed FACTS. FACT: NB had never worked on set of a Feature Film in his life. That’s not opinion… it’s fact.
I wasn’t disputing the FACT. Just expressing a general amusement.
I really like this film. I thought everything fit together nicely, with one very minor exception. I understand how some things looked too convenient, but they aren’t really stretched of the imagination so I think it worked out perfectly well. I also though that the lead actor was brilliant.
Two tentacles up over here.
John: So suddenly he’ll kill a kid? Come on… I’m not saying it needed an hour of exposition to establish, but it’s clearly one of a few aspects to the film that were half-baked, victims of a need to get the narrative from A to B.
SUDDENLY!?!?!?! Did you say SUDDENLY!?!?! The process for him was like 70 years. What movie did you watch???
Yeah, suddenly. It’s all incredibly unmotivated, John, and the “he went insane over the course of 70 years” or whatever (which should have put him at, what, 100 years old or something, by the way?) doesn’t cut it.
It’s one of a number of lazy elements to the script, conveniently bridging gaps in narrative logic. I love the film for other reasons, and I think there is a real craft to the story. But it was so hung up on that image of a house carried away by balloons that it built haphazardly from there, no matter the pitfalls.
SO basically John you should man up and admit in your video that you were wrong about this guy directing Halo movie. I remember how you were like he hasn’t done anything nothing blah blah. Hasn’t served cofee on the set etc.
Hey JoJo,
Why would I do that? Everything I said was 100% true and factual.
It was the RIGHT move not to let a first time director, who had never worked on a real movie before, direct a $200 million dollar tentpole studio project as his first attempt.
I ALWAYS said, Blomkamp needed to cut his teeth on a small scale film first. He did with District 9, and it turned out really well.
Now he can start looking at bigger films, and studios can feel more comfortable with the idea of using him now.
Sorry JoJo, the right move is the right move. Hindsight doesn’t change that.
I never said Blom would be a bad director… just that he’s never directed a feature film before. That was 100% correct.
He did what I always said he should do, and it worked out perfectly.
If anything, it’s everyone else who disagreed with me who should “man up” and admit I was right.
What’s to man up about? He was pretty spot on about not wanting to hand over the amount of money they were looking at putting out for a Halo movie to a relatively no name person. This is his first theatrical movie under his belt as a director. Get a few more awesome movies under his belt, if this one doesn’t do it, and the studios should be ready to fork out the big bucks.
What he does now doesn’t change the fact of what he was a year or two ago… a relative nobody as a director outside of a short and some commercials.
Yeah let’s beat that dead horse again. He hadn’t done anything except shorts when John said that stuff. Now that D9 is out, maybe NB will get more John love. But it’s silly to say he was wrong. It was the truth AT THE TIME.
Can’t wait to see this, thanks for the quick thoughts.
wow so defensive john….fact is u dont know how halo movie would have turnedout ifhe directed it as his first movie….and the same goes for every one else…we dont know and never will cause he has allready made a film called district 9 which is getting good feedback on the street….we can all assume but we dont know.
It’s not about whether or not he would have done a good job, Bigsamspon. It’s the fact that he was a relative unknown and not worth the risk of handing a large sum of money like $200mil to the guy to make the movie. Studios don’t like to take risks when large sums of money are involved.
John wasn’t the big Blomkamp hater; Rodney was.
He wasn’t a relative unknown, he was a complete unknown.
He was an effects artist, and no one even bothered to look up his demo reels (that people hail as “short films” now) until Jackson said his name.
No one here HATED Blomkamp, just that he was unproven and we didn’t like the idea of this inexperienced director (he had no experience directing a feature film) taking on a big budget picture like Halo.
Ya, I said “relative” in hopes it ward off people from splattering the post with “nu-uh, he did this and this and this…” comments. I do agree with you, Rodney, he was a complete unknown to me until Jackson said his name.
Will be seeing it this weekend I hope. With that said… John, I like how your giving quick first impressions followed by the full review a day or two later. Less tempted to read possible spoilers that are often found in the full reviews. :D
1) Agreed.
2) I don’t think too many are calling it an outright “masterpiece,” but when smart and grounded sci-fi comes along, it deserves a big leg-up.
3) If you hate “undimensional” antagonists so much, why does “Up,” a film boasting a villain with thinly established (if at all) motivation get a pass?
4) Agreed. And for that budget, no less.
5) The action sequences weren’t numbing, however. They were exciting and swift, never bogged down.
6) You’re not being specific so it’s difficult to comment. I suppose I’ll wait for the review, but I have a hunch what you mean, and I don’t disagree. It was just easily forgivable given the poignancy of the overall piece.
7) He is the real deal. The only person I was dying to talk to from the production: http://incontention.com/?p=11699
Looking forward to the review. Glad it was this and not “Time Traveler’s Wife” for the midnight show, by the way. Way to man up.
Hey Kris,
Ok, you asked:
If you hate “undimensional” antagonists so much, why does “Up,” a film boasting a villain with thinly established (if at all) motivation get a pass?
Thinly established? Dude the “bad guy” in UP was one of the highlights for me. It’s not just about motivation for him. Underneath this guy is a story of a legitimate hero… a GOOD man. A man who is wrongly discredited and humiliated and shamed. This turned to obsession for him and gradually over the years this obsession ate away at his basic humanity and “goodness” to the point that everything else that he used to stand for was gone.
It doesn’t take an hour of narrative to establish something. I thought he was brilliant.
hmmm i have to agree with u 100% kristopher…cept for i think they did a fine job with the villian in UP…i mean the dude was pissed lol
as for the bad guys in D9 i have to say that it didnt bother me one bit but i could see where someone would have a problem with em.
Man I want to see this movie. Maybe I’ll try and see it today.
to each is to owni saw it last night at midnight and it was a perfect movie imo….i didnt really care about the bady guy bieng unidimensionalbut isee why u say that …….specialeffectswhere fucking badass….there are some spots better then others but it was by far the best movie i seen this far this year and last year…better then iron man imo. hazmat….there are momentsthat it would be perfect to take a girl to this movie…its a jumper!
Im going with my gf, my sister and her fiance tonight.
Btw i hate these “quick thought”s it makes me more impatient about reading Johns review. Fucking hate them. teases. And i dont trust RTs anymore for reviews
;)
ah u guys are going to have a blast….ithink i might go see it again but go to the adult movie theatre where i can get drunk …much funner.
as for RT i lost faith in that rating system long time ago…this movie is made for people who like this genre which most of us do.
Thank you John, im watching it tonight.
Im kinda worried about #2…i was hoping itd be like…THAT movie
I heard it was CREEPY as shit sometimes, lets hope so. I like creepy/raw/weird
I just got back from it and unfortunately it wasn’t exceptionally creepy. There are a few parts in which the concept is creepy but I don’t like creepy and I had no problem. Sorry dude.
I had one big problem, there didn’t seem to be any point but a cool looking movie. No underlying message at all. It wasn’t even like you knew there was one but it wasn’t developed enough, there was just none. Apart from that and a few minor technical problems I had, I loved it. And John, I agree with every point you made except possibly #3. I see how you get that but I don’t completely agree.
Wait – you didn’t think this had an underlying message? Did you notice the parts about racism, poverty, segregation and the parallels to the apartheid that the director grew up under? I think it has alot to say especially in the way that the protagonist is a genocidal racist and doesn’t even seem to realize it. (He does see the light by the end, I think.)
I disagree. Of course there is an underlying message. Look into South Africa’s Apartheid history and you’ll figure it out! Mass-relocation, abuse of “lesser beings” etc. It’s all there!