District 9 is a surprisingly satisfying movie. I wouldn’t give it an award necessarily, but it is really interesting, fun and strange. It’s like 50% pure camp, 50% serious science fiction drama, with the two blended perfectly and neither half detracting from the other. Frankly, I’m not sure how they even pulled it off, but they did.

The main character is just a trip! The guy is basically an slow-witted bureaucratic a-hole who you don’t even like. As the movie progresses and he becomes the “protagonist” he remains a completely a-hole. The character is perfectly consistent from start to finish, and this gives the whole story a very unusual poignancy. The alien protagonist (called “Christopher Johnson” in the movie) is done superbly – his clothing and facial expressions really transmit a certain humanness to him that makes you like him and route for him (let’s face it, the aliens are for the most part pretty gross throughout the movie.)

The movie is funny, it’s sad, it’s exciting. The alien weapons are very satisfying (you’ll see what I mean if you watch it.) Even the ending of the movie is great.

I know I just said I would not give it an award, but as I think about it, if I was given a choice to re-watch Avatar or District 9, I would pick District 9 in a second. So, given that I said I have no problem with Avatar wining the Academy Award, I guess I shouldn’t say District 9 does not deserve consideration. In my opinion, it’s a better movie.

Go see it!