# District 9: Rave Reviews So Far... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152 "2009-08-12T07:49:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/21 "2009-08-13T16:54:08Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > The “alien interlopers” in this film are trapped, their ship in need of repairs. A guinea pig tricked them. Count me among those who will be going stag to see it, the wife’s not interested. I am VERY much looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/22 "2009-08-13T17:28:48Z")
The only exposure I’ve had before today was a theater teaser before Star Trek. I knew then that I would go see this film, even if I go alone. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/23 "2009-08-13T22:22:46Z")
I’m not impressed by the trailer. It looks like the typical action sci-fi film, and some of the shots look straight out of Transformers or Terminator. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/24 "2009-08-14T02:01:23Z")
I’m excited to see it. Have to wait until my girlfriend is off work on Monday though. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/25 "2009-08-14T06:59:51Z")
Just got back from it. Meeeeeeh. It started off more promising than it ended, with generic sci-fi action. The characters, for the most part (barring two–you know who they are if you’ve seen the movie) are completely uninteresting. The plot, also, contains several holes and deus ex machinas. The effects were impressive though, given the paltry budget. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/26 "2009-08-14T07:02:57Z")
I just got back from a midnight show. My god, you people have no idea. GO SEE IT NOW. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/27 "2009-08-14T07:56:35Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Just got back from it. Meeeeeeh.. Uh, didn’t you recently call **The Dark Knight** “a mess” and was disappointed in **Moon** , one of, IMO, the best SF movies ever? Just checking. Pardon me if I take what you say about any movie and do a bit of fiddling with the expectation level. Me, I can’t wait to see **Disctrict 9**. I almost went to the midnight show but I would have had to go to the theater straight from work and not eat beforehand. Food called. I will see it Saturday night, by myself, since my husband’s on a business trip. In fact I plan to see 7 movies this weekend. By myself. I am completely mystified why anyone wouldn’t go see a movie they want to see by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/28 "2009-08-14T08:02:03Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Uh, didn’t you recently call **The Dark Knight** “a mess” and was disappointed in **Moon** , one of, IMO, the best SF movies ever? You remember only what you want to remember. For clarity’s sake, I stated Dark Knight was “was a mess from a story and narrative perspective” and said of Moon “I liked it, but I was hoping for more.” If you feel that a movie must be only praised in order for it to be considered worth seeing, then yes, the day where you and I agree may be a long time coming. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/29 "2009-08-14T09:40:17Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Just got back from it. Meeeeeeh. It started off more promising than it ended, with generic sci-fi action. The characters, for the most part (barring two–you know who they are if you’ve seen the movie) are completely uninteresting. The plot, also, contains several holes and deus ex machinas. > > The effects were impressive though, given the paltry budget. While the movie certainly has some demarkations of a few different styles of narrative, I have to say that this is a fantastic achievement that will hopefully spawn a new era in quality science fiction. The best I can convey my feelings was the first time I saw Iron Giant. It wasn’t what that trailer had painted it as, and when I did finally see it, it was a gradual gripping story that got better and better until it turned all sorts of kickass at the end, and in ways totally unexpected, then ended on the most perfect note. I’m trying to think of really egregious plot holes, and am coming up dry. As for deus ex machinas, I don’t see it? The progression of the main character alone was particularly outstanding. All in all, it’s instantly up in the pantheon of science fiction greats. Please, do yourself a favor, and don’t spoil anything before you see it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/30 "2009-08-14T16:52:25Z")
I have only seen trailers, and would like to see the movie. I have a question for the “have seen’s”. To me the special effects are so…_real_. Am I right in thinking that there is just something else about these effects? They just don’t look like effects. Upon actually watching the movie can you notice something a little special about the effects? Or am I just judging on the trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/31 "2009-08-14T17:18:30Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I’m trying to think of really egregious plot holes, and am coming up dry. Like why the corporation is trying to kill someone who, by what is portrayed in the movie, should be more valuable alive than dead. > [@cmyk](#): > > I’m trying to think of really egregious plot holes, and am coming up dry. How about when the mech was taken control of just in time to save the protagonist from the weapons dealers? Or the mother ship’s magical tractor beam that can pull the wrecked ship to safety–why did they spend 20 years gathering all that liquid if they could have just levitated up the entire time? (if they needed the liquid to power the ship at all, certainly a much smaller supply would have sufficed to maintain a wireless connection with the mother ship). ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/32 "2009-08-14T17:19:31Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > To me the special effects are so…_real_. Am I right in thinking that there is just something else about these effects? They just don’t look like effects. Upon actually watching the movie can you notice something a little special about the effects? Or am I just judging on the trailer. Not just you. The effects are very impressive and arguably the best aspect of the film. They do look real, in a way JarJar Binks can only dream about. And this is even more impressive considering the movie’s modest $30 million budget, ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/33 "2009-08-14T17:54:06Z")
I found a good review of it: > **[District 9: Like a Nation of Aliens stuck in a District](http://allthatcoolnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/district-9-like-nation-of-aliens-stuck.html)** > > Harry Palmer here and I have got to tell you District 9 is pretty awesome. You may have seen some of their viral advertising or their traile... ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/34 "2009-08-14T18:26:40Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Like why the corporation is trying to kill someone who, by what is portrayed in the movie, should be more valuable alive than dead. Plot hole debunk: You must’ve missed the entire premise, because that’s exactly what MNU was trying to do… _bring Wikus back alive._ It wasn’t until the very end that the main MNU guy said, “I don’t care how much you’re worth to these people, I’m sick of you being a pain in my ass, so I’m just gonna kill you right now.” > [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > How about when the mech was taken control of just in time to save the protagonist from the weapons dealers? Or the mother ship’s magical tractor beam that can pull the wrecked ship to safety–why did they spend 20 years gathering all that liquid if they could have just levitated up the entire time? (if they needed the liquid to power the ship at all, certainly a much smaller supply would have sufficed to maintain a wireless connection with the mother ship). My interpretation (because they didn’t really go in depth on the logistics, but I thought it was pretty clear.) [spoiler]It was just good timing on the kid alien’s part. The drop ship was damaged, so being as precocious as they made him out to be, he knew to take control of the mothership to center the tractor beam over them. Here’s why they just didn’t do that in the first place: 1. it’s a slow process. 2. the dropship was buried; perhaps the ship needed to be on the surface for the tractor beam to work. 3. It’s not that they needed the fluid to power the mothership, it’s that they needed enough fluid to use the mothership to travel the interstellar distance. Liquid Schwartz. As for the convenient timing of the powersuit, the kid liked Wikus, saw him in danger, and had control of the suit… why wouldn’t he use it to save him? Also, he knew it was the best chance to save his father too. (Besides, Deus Ex Machina means a solution to the plot that comes completely out of the blue. For that to happen in this movie, a wizard would have had to appeared and whisked the MNU away. That’s a DExM; not serendipity or convenient coincidence.)[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/35 "2009-08-14T18:37:00Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Plot hole debunk: > > You must’ve missed the entire premise, because that’s exactly what MNU was trying to do… _bring Wikus back alive._ It wasn’t until the very end that the main MNU guy said, “I don’t care how much you’re worth to these people, I’m sick of you being a pain in my ass, so I’m just gonna kill you right now.” Debunk debunk: So wait, when they were trying to remove his heart (and presumably harvest other organs), that wasn’t supposed to kill him? This was just after he became infected initially. > [@cmyk](#): > > My interpretation (because they didn’t really go in depth on the logistics, but I thought it was pretty clear.) > > [spoiler]It was just good timing on the kid alien’s part. The drop ship was damaged, so being as precocious as they made him out to be, he knew to take control of the mothership to center the tractor beam over them. Here’s why they just didn’t do that in the first place: > > 1. it’s a slow process. > > 2. the dropship was buried; perhaps the ship needed to be on the surface for the tractor beam to work. > > 3. they needed enough fluid to use the mothership in the first place. That sounds like an awful lot of fan-wankery. You might be able to buy it, but I don’t. It was a convenient plot-device tool to get themselves out of the corner in which they had written themselves. > [@cmyk](#): > > (Besides, Deus Ex Machina means a solution to the plot that comes completely out of the blue. For that to happen in this movie, a wizard would have had to appeared and whisked the MNU away. That’s a DExM; not serendipity or convenient coincidence.)[/spoiler] Not true, according to [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): 2) any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/36 "2009-08-14T18:38:04Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I found a good review of it: > > [All That Cool News: District 9: Like a Nation of Aliens stuck in a District](http://allthatcoolnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/district-9-like-nation-of-aliens-stuck.html) What the hell is that? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/37 "2009-08-14T18:40:06Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Not true, according to [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): > 2) any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot. Right, like a wizard, or a magic potion. I don’t think anything you’ve laid out from the movie comes close to the definition even you subscribe to. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/38 "2009-08-14T18:41:11Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > What the hell is that? A lame parody of Harry Knowles’ gushing. ---
**Author:** ![tsm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/db5fbb/32.png) [@tsm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsm)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/39 "2009-08-14T18:41:30Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > What the hell is that? I was wondering the same thing. Maybe I’m being whooshed, but that review was definitely not for the film I saw last night! ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/40 "2009-08-14T18:43:49Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Right, like a wizard, or a magic potion. I don’t think anything you’ve laid out from the movie even comes close to the definition you subscribe to. That definition does not mention anything of “wizards” or “magic potions” which you _subscribe_ to. By your definition, a movie must use either of those two elements in order to be a Deus Ex Machina? If that were the case, Deus Ex Machinas wouldn’t be a valid complaint for almost any film. Regardless, we’re splitting hairs. I found it improbable and it broke the immersion. And that was just one of several scenes that didn’t seem to be consistent with the rest of the movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152.md?page=3)