*Spoiler Alert*
So last weekend I watched District 9 and would like to hear some thoughts from those of you who have seen it as well.
I didn't have overly high hopes for it, but initially was interested when it came out, so I wouldn't say that I placed an unreasonable amount of expectations upon it. Anyway, for the first 35-45 minutes I was fascinated in the way the film was laid out almost like a documentary. It kept me interested. The acting was fine and even all the special effects with the aliens, or "Prawns," as they were commonly referred to, were ok with me.
When the movie ended though, I was surprised. I didn't care. To me, the sign of a good movie, is one that when it ends, you still want to be watching it, or want to watch it again. When the credits for D9 began to roll, all I could feel was a sense of relief that I didn't have to keep wondering if it was going to get better or not. Obviously, for me, it never "got better."
Here are my problems with the film:
1. So dude (main guy) accidentally sprays himself with the fluid from the narrow canister, which we later find out is the prawns fuel to run their ship. I can't wrap my mind around why it is that the prawns' spaceship gas turns him into one of them. Would the humans' gasoline in the movie have turned the prawns into humans? I mean, come on, it was the stupid fuel that turns this guy into one of them? That's just ridiculous, even for a sci-fi movie. It would have made much more sense, if it was some sort of plan of the prawns to take over the human race by using an airborne version of the fluid to turn the humans into their kind. But no. The space gas has the power to change a human into an alien. Sigh...
2. When dude finally turns into a full-blown alien by the end of the movie, it didn't even phase me. And that is evidenced by the fact that I don't even remember his name and continue to refer to him as "dude." I don't think the character development was enough for me to care. Sure, he was a nice guy, who loved his beautiful wife, with the best of intentions and a really good company puppet, but I just didn't care that he was going through what he was going through. The only moment I almost cared was the very end when his wife talks about the aluminum flower she finds on her doorstep and then the scene cuts to a prawn (dude) making an aluminum flower. But still, too little, too late. And this is coming from a guy who admittedly cries at TV commercials on occasion.
I didn't have overly high hopes for it, but initially was interested when it came out, so I wouldn't say that I placed an unreasonable amount of expectations upon it. Anyway, for the first 35-45 minutes I was fascinated in the way the film was laid out almost like a documentary. It kept me interested. The acting was fine and even all the special effects with the aliens, or "Prawns," as they were commonly referred to, were ok with me.
When the movie ended though, I was surprised. I didn't care. To me, the sign of a good movie, is one that when it ends, you still want to be watching it, or want to watch it again. When the credits for D9 began to roll, all I could feel was a sense of relief that I didn't have to keep wondering if it was going to get better or not. Obviously, for me, it never "got better."
Here are my problems with the film:
1. So dude (main guy) accidentally sprays himself with the fluid from the narrow canister, which we later find out is the prawns fuel to run their ship. I can't wrap my mind around why it is that the prawns' spaceship gas turns him into one of them. Would the humans' gasoline in the movie have turned the prawns into humans? I mean, come on, it was the stupid fuel that turns this guy into one of them? That's just ridiculous, even for a sci-fi movie. It would have made much more sense, if it was some sort of plan of the prawns to take over the human race by using an airborne version of the fluid to turn the humans into their kind. But no. The space gas has the power to change a human into an alien. Sigh...
2. When dude finally turns into a full-blown alien by the end of the movie, it didn't even phase me. And that is evidenced by the fact that I don't even remember his name and continue to refer to him as "dude." I don't think the character development was enough for me to care. Sure, he was a nice guy, who loved his beautiful wife, with the best of intentions and a really good company puppet, but I just didn't care that he was going through what he was going through. The only moment I almost cared was the very end when his wife talks about the aluminum flower she finds on her doorstep and then the scene cuts to a prawn (dude) making an aluminum flower. But still, too little, too late. And this is coming from a guy who admittedly cries at TV commercials on occasion.
3. The movie is obviously (as far as I understood it) another play on how we treat others who are not like us (anyone seen Avatar lately?). And yes, of course there is a lesson to be learned here, but once again, I felt very unsympathetic. It would have been one thing if the humans had gone to their planet and tried to take over, but the aliens/prawns came to them-to earth. So really, in my eyes, it was more of a population control problem that the humans were dealing with and I sympathized with that more than anything. I mean, seriously, what if there were over a million creepy aliens that showed up in your "front yard," totally helpless and annoying like these guys? What would you do? If you were a decent person, even though they were different (and annoying), you'd try to help them somehow. Right? And that's what the humans in the movie did. But there's only so much you can do with a species that will not peacefully and reasonably coexist with the species that first occupied the area. So, they gave them some of their own land and homes (though horrible and slum-like. Can you blame them though? I mean those prawns were one messy, disgusting bunch), but really, they were probably just wondering when that friggin' prawn mechanic was going to get their ship repaired so they could go home. I mean this felt like You, Me and Dupree, with the aliens being like Owen Wilson and overstaying their welcome.
I'll spare you the rest of my thoughts, but those are my main complaints. And would love to hear your thoughts and insights-even if they are completely opposite of mine, because maybe I'm a moron and totally missed the point.
I'll spare you the rest of my thoughts, but those are my main complaints. And would love to hear your thoughts and insights-even if they are completely opposite of mine, because maybe I'm a moron and totally missed the point.
3 comments:
I thought the first 30min were funny but soon got bored and like you said did not care that the movie ended. crappy movie in my opinion.
Hallie, I just wanted to say hi!! Thanks for commenting on my blog, you are so cute. I totally want to make that cute ruffled blue pillow you made a little while back. Little Cambria is so cute. I love her name too. That was in the running of names before we picked Henslee. : ) I am coming to UT next week, hopefully we all can get together. Can't wait to see ya.
I agree with your review Jeremy. You summed it up pretty well. I kind of enjoyed the movie but it certainly was not a great. And I also hate getting preached to in movies. My brother spent 2 yrs working on the special effects for Avatar so I had a certain amount of pride watching his work, but for me to truly enjoy the movie (which I did) I had to ignore the contemptuous preaching and moral lessons being taught. I find that annoying. The worst is Wall E. I felt the message was that americans are fat, lazy and destructive. Maybe thats all true, but I watch movies to be entertained, not to be instructed by some enlightened hollywood director who presumes to have the moral high ground.
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