The Brit Report: District 9

You have to face it: this year I'm going to produce quite a lot of exclusives, so be patient: all will come eventually! Thankfully this time the ticket was only 4 pounds, albeit at the glorious Whitechapel district, which made the movie feel more realistic... A final word of warning: for heaven's sake, peace my brothers! Do not fight over a lost battlefield, the Jaunty Jackalope will come crashing through the windows and eat all the apples!

DISTRICT 9
(by Neill Blomkamp)

I'll try to keep this one short and spoiler-free: District 9 was a sleeper hit. Made just for $30M (1/10 of Avatar's budget), it has already made 4 times its money worldwide, and it still hasn't opened in a lot of territories. The first geek reviews that came out were ecstatic, so my expectations penetrated the stratosphere. Finally though, I think that I raised the bar a little too much.

Not to be snobbish though: the direction is excellent, with extreme attention to detail, the action scenes are suspenseful, and the CGI are really top-notch. The script has a few twists and turns that generate some excitement, but the movie dosen't delve a lot more than the initial premise. While watching I kept being reminded of these terrific Galactica episodes (ie. Exodus), that really knew how to create sci-fi allegories. The acual problem? "It's the characters, stupid", as Ron Moore had said. While the main lead tries very hard (and succeds) at being likeable even if he's an irritating racist, other basic players feel like cardboard cutouts: the evil plotting businessman, the evil macho mercenary, the sobbing wife... But the movie is owned by a CG: the prawn Christopher - amazing performance. Maybe I'm over-analyzing it. Every geek should see this movie - It's almost a miracle that this one came out. Don't mind my blabbering! Go see it!

7,5/10