90
District 9 whizzes by with a resourcefulness and mordant wit nearly worthy of its obvious influences: "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Dawn of the Dead," and "Starship Troopers."
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
88
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Anyone who watches District 9 and doesn't think of Apartheid, Nazis, and Josef Mengele needs to spend some time reading a few history books.
88
St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Williams
The reason District 9 reverberates so loudly is because its moral indignation is cranked to 11.
90
Though compelling throughout, District 9 never becomes outright terrifying, largely because Blomkamp is less interested in exploiting his aliens for cheap scares than in holding up a mirror to our own bloodthirsty, xenophobic species.
100
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
No true fan of science fiction -- or, for that matter, cinema -- can help but thrill to the action, high stakes and suspense built around a very original chase movie.
88
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
South African director Neill Blomkamp set and shot the film around his native Johannesburg, so parallels to apartheid leap to mind. Yet the script he wrote with Terri Tatchell applies to any culture that bluntly excludes another.
100
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Madly original, cheekily political, altogether exciting District 9.
89
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Blomkamp and his entire cast and crew have created an instant genre classic that transcends the self-limiting ghetto implied by the term "science fiction" and instead, like precursors such as Robert Wise's "The Day the Earth Stood Still," engages not only the mind but the heart as well. It's magnificent.
75
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Despite its creativity, the movie remains space opera and avoids the higher realms of science-fiction.
I think Neil Blomkamp might be a wizard. His expertise has always been in cinematography and SFX, and it shows in District 9. His alien future is a dump, but it's a supremely believable one. From the media circus surrounding the aliens to their treatment by humans and the mechanisms of military technology, District 9 feels real even if it's stretching the limits of what's possible to put on screen. Also, Sharlto Copley is a treasure.