You know when someone tries to tweak a tried and true recipe to make it "their own" and it just isn't the same and you end up disappointed. They ask you to try it and they eagerly watch you eat it and ask you, "How is it?" Before you can even swallow, all you can really truthfully describe it as is - "It's different."
That's exactly how I feel about Peter Jackson's "District 9." The previews made this seem like it would be a pretty good movie but don't judge a movie by its preview. There have been many successful movies involving aliens coming to Earth: "Independence Day," "Men in Black."
One aspect I didn't like was that it switched between too many camera perspectives. It started out as a 1st-person "documentary" style movie a la "Cloverfield," which made that movie "different" too but in a good way. It later alternates between surveillance/security camera angles to regular 3rd person perspective.
I didn't like the whole "humans are heartless and prejudice and aliens have feelings too" sentiment. Like I'm supposed to leave this movie feeling like I need to change the way I see things in this world. It really made the movie all too predictable. I felt like this movie tried to be a thought provoking movie about racial bias like "Crash."
I wasn't surprised when the couple sitting next to me walked out after an hour or so. I walked out asking myself what happened to this cool movie I expected to see.
It could be entertaining if you're looking for something mindless to zone out through. The graphics were good, even though they spent most of it blowing people into a million pieces.
I look to the ratings on RottenTomatoes to determine if a movie is worth paying for, but this was one of those few occasions I disagree. Everyone claiming its fresh are touting that this is a different kind of sci-fi flick, and yes it is but I don't like the sour aftertaste it leave behind.
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