[miketardis]

DISTRICT 9 (2009)

I loved District 9, which kept me and a friend of mine absolutely hooked from beginning to end. Brilliant and blistering summer entertainment.
There are comparisons to Paul Verhoeven's ROBOCOP. Although District 9 largely avoids Verhoeven's cynical laughter at dystopia, there is that same incredible rush of clever social commentary, hard-hitting action, holy-shit-did-I-just-see-that splatter gore, and brilliant special effects work.
Sharlto Copley's performance would have been worthy of praise coming from any actor, but consider that this guy never acted before and improvised all his dialog! Lightning in a bottle, ladies and gentlemen.
I really enjoyed the documentary approach at the beginning and how it faded to a traditional narrative approach with documentary bits here and there. Didn't throw me at all. I thought it was a brilliant way (not unlike the MediaBreaks in ROBOCOP) to quickly get all the exposition of this alternate universe out of the way. After that, I had no problem accepting that our view had blurred to a straight look at the events the documentary was referencing. For me, it was a narrative film accented with a documentary from the world it depicted.
Whatever. Don't miss it. It's worthy enough of an effort that everyone should rock it on the big screen and decide for themselves. Don't wait for DVD.

[Ironride]

I would have to agree. The movie was well done with a very original story. The social commentary was an underlying theme and not over the top. I took my reluctant wife to see the movie, and she actually liked it...wait.. loved it.