# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/121 "2009-08-17T05:37:18Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Didn’t like it. > > [Spoiler]So these aliens are perfectly aware of their vastly superior technological capibilities yet they went and willingly got rounded up and gave up their superior weaponry? > > Were the aliens supposed to be SMART? How did they function as a society? Some background from whence they came would have been extremely helpful. As it were they just looked like a bunch of feral cats rounded up. > > And who the hell travels 20 billion lightyears for fucking CATFOOD anyway? Ridiculous… > > The first 45 minutes should have taken about 20. All the background about hom being SELECTED for the job and the PREPARATION was useless and boring.[/Spoiler] [spoiler]1. It was explained that the Prawns had been intellectually damaged on a collective level by illness after they landed. Although their social hierarchy was never really explained or understood by the humans, it was implied that they operated on some kind of social insect type of system, like ants or bees, that the system had become disordered by the trauma of the crash, illness, etc, and that most of them were some kind of “drones,” not intellectual free agents. Christopher appeared to be an example of an exception, clearly more intellectually ordered and independent, possibly some kind of “hive” leader, though his exact role is never explained. 1. They didn’t travel for catfood. It was implied that their landing on earth was accidental and unplanned – essentially some kind of breakdown or crash while they were en route to some other mission. The fact that catfood was like a drug to them was entirely incidental.[/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 17, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/122 "2009-08-17T05:38:52Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > You are being waaaay too nitpicky on this (so you can call this a DEM and avoid other movies being called the same?). Now you’re stretching the truth. What you stated was “If that sort of coincidence is considered a DEM, then every movie has one” and left it undefined; I assumed you were speaking of the situation in general, which I clarified and responded to in my post. There’s nothing to even “avoid.” > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > If your definition of DEM is quite simply “2) any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot.” then I don’t believe there are all that many movies which exist, and especially not a single one that comes to mind, that didn’t rely on that, as any well timed coincidence is an improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot. Okay, I suppose there is some room for subjectivity here. I believe that the aforementioned situation is an DEM because of its contrived timing involving functions of the suit that were only introduced for that scene, and were not alluded to before. The fact that the suit itself was introduced before doesn’t mitigate the other shit they invented for that scene to take place. ETA: > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Oh, and I’ll admit that when I mentioned “all movies”, I was speaking a bit too broadly, as movies based on non-fiction obviously wouldn’t have DEMs. I was referencing fictional movies and stories. Fair enough, I think we misunderstood one another in a few respects. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/123 "2009-08-17T06:45:44Z")
I really enjoyed the movie. Although it had bits and pieces here and there that were reminisicent of past SF and action movies, nothing felt too cliche to me. It seemed really fresh and interesting. The pacing was great - I never looked at my watch once and although it wasn’t non-stop action, it never felt too slow to me. Even during the actions scenes they still showed a lot of character development and interaction (e.g. Christopher’s reaction to the biological experiments in the lab). > [@Cubsfan](#): > > I also sighed when Widkus sat down and started piloting the ship without ever having been exposed to it before. I mean, he stuck his hand in the goo and turned it on. Hmmm… He seemed to have knowledge of how to fly the ship because the plot required him to do so at that moment. [spoiler]I got the impression that the suit and the command ship created some kind of connection or neural interface with Wikus. There was a shot when he was getting strapped into a seat (IIRC, it was the suit) and some kind of headgear clamped onto him and he grimaced. I got the impression that it was making some kind of connection with his brain. So he didn’t have to learn how to work the suit by figuring out controls, he could just wear it and it would respond to his actions and thoughts. At first he was more clumsy with it (stumbling), and with more practice he gained more control (grabbed the RPG). Same with the ship - he wouldn’t have to learn all the individual controls just to do basic piloting. And he clearly wasn’t a fantastic pilot. He was weaving all over the place and couldn’t avoid getting hit by the missile. Even though he could fly the command ship instinctively, he’d probably still need to be taught the more advanced controls. When we saw Christopher at the helm at the end, he could do much more advance controls through the holographic systems.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Brandus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Brandus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/124 "2009-08-17T13:28:31Z")
I loved this movie. I am trying to pin down exactly what made it so compelling. At no point could I really predict what would happen. I thought the toxic spray was some sort of infectious disease to kill off humans, as another poster suggested. By the time Christopher’s ship was heading towards the mother ship, I genuinely didn’t know if it would make it, because all of the other plot twists kept me off balance. When the young’in re-awoke the mother ship and it let out that earth-shattering shockwave, it was one of the most supremely satisfying movie moments I’ve ever had. ---
**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 17, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/125 "2009-08-17T14:13:55Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Fair enough, I think we misunderstood one another in a few respects. I think you can lay the bulk of the blame for that at the feet of the editors of [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), for being unhelpfully descriptivist. It doesn’t matter how small of a minority might use a word or phrase in whatever contrary and ridiculous way, if they can point to it in the wild, then, by god, it’s worthy of inclusion in the definitions. It **literally** makes my blood boil. Yes, I meant to do that. Descriptivist bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/126 "2009-08-17T14:31:12Z")
> [@Brandus](#): > > When the young’in re-awoke the mother ship and it let out that earth-shattering shockwave, it was one of the most supremely satisfying movie moments I’ve ever had. This moment is why I still go to the movies – there’s no way that can be reproduced at home. We can list nitpicks about this movie all day long, but for my money, it’s one of the most entertaining and original sci-fi movies I’ve seen in a long time. I read somewhere that it cost $10 million less to produce than _Julie & Julia_ (which I also enjoyed quite a lot, although it didn’t have nearly as many explosions). ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/127 "2009-08-17T14:52:51Z")
Another amazing thing about the actor playing Wikus- his dialog was reportedly improvised. All of it. Yeah. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/128 "2009-08-17T15:31:00Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Another amazing thing about the actor playing Wikus- his dialog was reportedly improvised. > > All of it. > > Yeah. 🆒 There’s a great interview with him on the AV Club in which he mentions that, as a first-time actor, it was actually easier for him to improvise than to follow a set script, since he could focus on reacting to what was happening to Wikus as realistically as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/129 "2009-08-17T15:46:17Z")
I’d have to see it again but did the “Christopher” alien have a different color body or did he wear modified human clothing? I also think he was a different class than the typical worker drones. Did anybody else notice the similarity in the “turn you into red goo” weapons here and the “turn you into white goo” weapons from Men In Black? Or even the “poof you’re gone” weapons from War of the Worlds? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/130 "2009-08-17T15:52:19Z")
Posted by someone on another site: > [@](#): > > Mini Movie Review: District 9 > > Skip it. > > No, that’s too mild. > > Given the choice between watching this movie again and spending two > hours with soap in my right eye, I’d probably choose the soap. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/131 "2009-08-17T16:13:37Z")
The Voodoo aspect was a strange but interesting twist, even though it was there really just to add another faction to the mix to provide convienant fights. But I like how in an South African movie, it the Nigerians who are portrayed as the backwards, voodoo cultists. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/132 "2009-08-17T16:22:47Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > The Voodoo aspect was a strange but interesting twist, even though it was there really just to add another faction to the mix to provide convienant fights. But I like how in an South African movie, it the Nigerians who are portrayed as the backwards, voodoo cultists. That’s pretty much how they’re portrayed in the real South Africa, too. Well, that and drug lords. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/133 "2009-08-17T16:36:23Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Posted by someone on another site: Meh, some people don’t like pizza or cake, too. Christopher seemed to be the same color as most, but seemed to be the only one who made a real attempt at fashioning an outfit. Also, in retrospect, the way he so very quickly made an explosive in the underground lab (“I’m making a bomb”) should be a pretty big clue that he’s not your average spacebug. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/134 "2009-08-17T16:36:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s pretty much how they’re portrayed in the real South Africa, too. Well, that and drug lords. I wondered about that. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/135 "2009-08-17T17:29:42Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Meh, some people don’t like pizza or cake, too. > > Christopher seemed to be the same color as most, but seemed to be the only one who made a real attempt at fashioning an outfit. > > Also, in retrospect, the way he so very quickly made an explosive in the underground lab (“I’m making a bomb”) should be a pretty big clue that he’s not your average spacebug. They hint at Christopher’s higher intelligence from his very first appearance, when Wikus presenting him with the eviction notice, and he’s the first prawn to not only know what an eviction is, but to offer a protest based its illegality. Wikus himself comments on this - he says something like “Oh, this prawn seems pretty clever.” ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/136 "2009-08-17T17:48:57Z")
I wanted to add, as fiendish looking as the aliens were, I rather liked them. Maybe because i’m not used to aliens being rather benign like these ones did- much of the things they did was reactionary. Then again if some of the behaviors are just their nature I don’t know how thrilled I’d be to have them as neighbors, ie rummaging through your garbage and unloading firehose-quantity sprays of mountain dew colored alien pee all over the place :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/137 "2009-08-17T19:29:41Z")
For a while there, I thought Sharlto Copley was Steve Carell and I was watching the best episode of The Office ever. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/138 "2009-08-17T19:43:37Z")
I loved this movie, and I disagree with the DEM complaints, but I’m not going to wade into that trap 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/139 "2009-08-17T19:48:52Z")
Yeah, I didn’t see a DEM either. I’ll let it stand at that. Anyone else think that the prawn gun designs were right out of anime? There were four prawn weapons that I remember: Lightning gun (Super bug zapper), machinegun, force-gun and missile pods. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152/140 "2009-08-17T20:19:16Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Some of the aliens had color on their exoskeletons, and quite possibly color differentiated the various classes. I’m assuming a biological pre-disposition, a la “The Mote in God’s Eye” with Engineers, Warriors, etc. This may strike some as fanwank, but let’s assume that the officer/scientist/leader class had been wiped out, and in 20 years time enough of them had been born to replace them. “Christopher” was much more intelligent than his companion - as well far more consolatory. But by the time the leader-types had been hatched, the morons had traded off all their weapons for freaking cat food. I think Christopher was to the other prawns (except his son/daughter) as Joe Bauer was to the other humans in Idiocracy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/district-9-rave-reviews-so-far/506152.md?page=8)