September 9, 2009

A great movie at last!


Movies on Extra Terrestrials are always fun. Alien(1979) was outright freaky and scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. The eery atmosphere and the scary Aliens(By god they were ugly!) made for a movie that is still considered a classic in the horror genre. Predator(1987) was yet another great movie which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as a military mercenary fighting a sophisticated Alien being. Alien vs Predator combined these two aliens to try cashing in money(which it didn't). We've had quite a few movies on Aliens, some flops and some successful.

District 9 created quite a ruckus even before release. Creative billboards were put up at various places that elicited positive responses. I saw the trailer and noticed two things: First, the movie was shot in documentary style. Second, the plot seemed to have have been based on the Roswell incident. I was not very excited as movies with dumb plots and massive overdoses of special effects are dime a dozen these days. I expected this movie to be no different. I was wrong.

This movie meets all expectations and goes further.
The premise: An alien spaceship reaches earth,loses its navigation systems and hovers lifelessly above Johannesberg. The aliens are provided shelter which is actually a shabby refugee camp. The ETs slowly start to get out of hand,the public is miffed. When they start to get on everyone's nerves, a private military organisation, MNU is called in to relocate the aliens. The rest of the story is one hell of a ride. The right twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat. The performances are very believable and the camera work commendable. The aliens could have been designed better. They look more like humans stripped of skin with some added organs to give them that OOTW look.

some critics are blasting it for "racial insensitivity" and stuff. wtf? To hell with them.

****
Highly Recommended

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