District 9 - A brief review by Camilo Arenivar

Ok it's getting a lot of good reviews but that does not mean everyone is going to like it. Don't go with high expectations. The reality is that it is a low budget film about aliens who are living in a Johannesberg, South Africa exiled neighborhood, and an interesting twist of events take place that eventually turn this into more of an action thriller with the sci-fi backdrop of there having been aliens here for 20 years. Oh yeah and there are lots of exploding heads.

The movie started off a little too slowly for me, and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it. A little over an hour into the film, I was hooked. And the last 30 minutes are great. And when it was finally over, I completely appreciated the story of this film, the tragic story of the lead character, and the whole situation. Ultimately, I felt for the characters, and I left feeling that I had seen what could best be described as a subtly very good film. Bordering on subtle greatness. It combines sci fi with the human element (or lack of humanity) resulting in an emotional connection that most sci fi/action/thriller films do not have the ability to create.

It's definitely different, and that's what you have to keep in mind.

Rating: 88