District 9

Ken AshfordPopular Culture1 Comment

I'm not one for summer blockbusters anymore.

I'm old enough to see the cliches, the clunky plot expositions, the cookie-cutter charactors — all designed to show-off yet another gee-whiz battle sequence or demolition of another American city and/or landmark.  I think it was during "Independence Day" when I crossed over.  A fun movie, but really — outside of the SFX, who cared?  Did we really care about Will Smith's relationship with what's-her-name?

District 9, I'm told, is a movie which actually has charactors and a signficiant story.  And, oh yeah — aliens and great SFX.  That seems to me what the best science fiction should be — not just cool things exploding, but an allegorical message and a story that can't be summarized in ten words.

Count me in.