Aerothorn on 21/8/2009 at 02:05

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Hey, my position is the mildest in the family. My dad insists it turns into an action flick in the middle:P

frozenman on 23/8/2009 at 03:06

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Just got back and I must recommend it. I really liked the character of Wikus in the beginning half of the movie, although he turned a bit into a Rambo at the end.

I ended up watching it from the first row, so I can't quite comment on quality of the special effects. The prawns seemed a bit goofy looking from that close up.

One plot bit I can't quite unravel- this fluid...it turns a dude into an alien AND is the vital key to starting up the command module? What the fuck is it anyways? I would have appreciated maybe 2 lines of techno-bullshit to at least explain WHAT it is except THE KEY TO EVERYTHING

Tocky on 23/8/2009 at 04:46

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I didn't like it as much as I was hoping. There was very little character development with much of it hinging on the novelty of the situation. I enjoyed that novelty very much in spite of this. There was just so much more that could have been explored. And, as some have said, the media interest seemed lacking. Even twenty years wouldn't have so diminished the circus of such a watermark in our history. I suppose that could be explained by the violence and squallor exhibited by the aliens to some degree. But it was quite a contrast to being able to pilot or even maintain a ship. The muck they were discovered in would seem to indicate a regression of inellect but so much is left to speculation. Drones only perhaps.

The story was very linear and documentary. It reminded me of a video game. Half Life meets UFO. The hand on Wikus was an homage (very pointedly as it was an exact replica)to HL as was the alien tech of UFO. Small wonder game addicts loved it. I did enjoy it though and found the action commenserate with the cynical nature of our own quest for military tech.

What the hell about the liquid dispersed as garbage? The breakaway command module scattered them? So much left to speculation.

I give 9 a 7.

Taffer36 on 25/8/2009 at 06:15

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Oh, I think I should also add that I hated the ending, the more that I think about it. Corny as shit.



That's a good observation. I suppose one really demands the other, though, especially since the movie not only has one main character, but goes further to show you the entire thing from almost entirely his eyes, with, I guess, bits from the alien's perspective. I think it was the best direction to go with the film, personally.

Scots Taffer on 25/8/2009 at 13:54

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lol



Yeah, essentially how I came out feeling, I enjoyed it but I think either the tone of the movie was scattershot or it needs more than a single viewing to appreciate it fully.

This post was brought to you by SPOILERS so stop reading if you haven't seen it.

I disagree with almost everything oudeis says above because there were a ton of holes in this movie (logically and plot-wise) and the clichés really began to grind even despite the relative freshness and that polished "gritty" aesthetic that they really nailed.

On that note: wow. The visual effects were astounding and really helped the movie feel grounded in reality, however the fundamental lack of development of the protagonist and the cartoonish villains populating the world basically undercut this to make it a superficially interesting take on material that with a lot more time and effort could have been very powerful.

For reals, Wikus has no arc. He's basically an unlikable racist prick for 90% of the movie and has one of those CHANGES OF HEART that helps the movie reach a logical conclusion.

If there was a point where Wikus would have changed it would've been after his own people tried to exploit the fuck out of him, but after this he's still a prick and willing to fuck over an entire race and the one person who can possibly help him to take control of the situation himself and then, quite randomly, has the pivotal CHANGE necessary for the movie to wrap up. Pretty fatal error in character development and story-telling.

That said, I actually respect them for doing the non-standard thing and having a pretty repulsive non-hero character as the lead for the most part but sadly they let him turn into ACTION HERO WHO SAVES THE DAY... but thankfully that allowed for some fucking awesome action, even if it did get a bit repetitive and underscore how badly the script was trying to be too "real" by just having the guy say "fuck, fuck, fuck".

As for non-caricatures... lol, come on. The uber-bad-ass commando (last man standing) getting his comeuppance from the prawns he's been systematically wiping out... the father-in-law who gives his obviously unwelcome son to be butchered in the name of bioweaponry for an EEEEEEEVIL corporation... the IMPENETRABLE 4-FLOOR UNDERGROUND LAB that he managed to escape in roughly 5 seconds after breaking out of the operating table (and he didn't seem to know about this place before he ended up there, so how did he know all the fucking codes to get back in later?) ... the cute little alien son ... I could go on but I won't because none of that is really important.

I liked the references to The Fly. Some of the humour was good. The splatter was awesome. I loved the action.

At the end of the day it was a mediocre sci-fi movie with an interesting setting, excellent special effects and they at least tried something new with the whole immediacy of the storyline in an established universe and unlikable protagonist but that part wasn't really thought out well enough to provide a justified and gratifying character arc or conclusion to the tale. If there was any part of the movie that dragged it certainly wasn't the last act and a half.