District 9
TriStar Pictures | Release Date: August 14, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
Every now and then, a film comes along that both defies and compels description. District 9 is one such movie: a science-fiction action vehicle so brilliantly and fully imagined that real life, when it resumes after the credits, arrives with a new sense of dread. Read full review
100
Washington PostJohn Anderson
A sci-fi-fueled indictment of man's inhumanity to man -- and the non-human -- District 9 is all horribly familiar, and transfixing. Read full review
100
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
To his credit, however, the often-playful Blomkamp never bludgeons his audience with any specific message. He's too busy letting 'er rip with his edge-of-your-seat, and unapologetically violent, sci-fi adventure. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterKirk 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. Read full review
100
Film ThreatMatthew Sorrento
The humanity of District 9 adds another dimension to this multilayered, rewarding work -- one of the best of the summer, and undoubtedly the most inventive from the multiplex this year. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Madly original, cheekily political, altogether exciting District 9. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
District 9 is very smart sci-fi, but that's just the beginning; it's also a scathing social satire hidden inside a terrific action thriller teeming with gross aliens and regrettable inter-species conflict. And it's a blast. . . . Read full review
100
TimeRichard Corliss
District 9 proves that genre films, besides being a hell of a lot of fun, can say things you hadn't considered and show stuff you haven't seen. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
This is a delicious premise, and Blomkamp, who first played with it in a 2005 short called "Alive in Joburg," has magnified and improved it with ferocious energy, wit and style. Read full review
90
NPRJeannette Catsoulis
Grabs you by the eyeballs from the very first frame. Read full review
90
VarietyJustin Chang
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. Read full review
90
Village VoiceScott Foundas
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." Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc 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. Read full review
88
PremiereStaff (Not credited)
A great-looking and smart film. It has enough action, wonder, depth, and action to keep any fan of the genre happy. The sociological undertones here are fascinating as well. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
The reason District 9 reverberates so loudly is because its moral indignation is cranked to 11. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames 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. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence 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. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Attention all geeks (and geeks at heart): Get ready for two hours of serious awesome. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This baby has the stuff to end the movie summer on a note of dazzle and distinction. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
With its clever faux documentary style, this is the most imaginative science-fiction movie to come along in years. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The ad campaign for the sci-fi thriller District 9, with mysterious billboards touting aliens among us, is highly creative and amusing. So, in patches, is the movie, which is a thinking man's, or man-boy's, "Transformers." Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
District 9 fuses science fiction mayhem and biting social commentary as well as any film since "Starship Troopers." It’s the rare alien invasion story that has the aliens running scared. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
A memorable, monstrous fable that's consistently gripping. Read full review
80
EmpireChris Hewitt (1)
Blomkamp’s prawn cocktail has more than enough stylistic chutzpah and originality to make District 9 an essential date. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
In the best B-movie tradition, the filmmakers embed their ideas in an ingenious, propulsive and suspenseful genre entertainment, one that respects your intelligence even as it makes your eyes pop (and, once in a while, your stomach turn). Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Despite its creativity, the movie remains space opera and avoids the higher realms of science-fiction. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The last time I felt the sort of outrageously kinetic action-movie high District 9 delivers, it was 1981 and George Miller, Mel Gibson, and "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" had just come roaring out of Australia. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Some movies pack such a terrific central idea, even their flaws can’t stop the train. District 9 is one of them. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
You don't feel bamboozled, fooled, or patronized by District 9, as you did by most of the summer blockbusters. You feel winded, and shaken, and shamed. [September 14, 2009, pg.115]
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
There is a lot of shield-your-eyes ickiness in District 9, a lot of violence and gore. What there is not a lot of, however, is humanity - even in the film's depiction of the inhumanity humans are capable of. Read full review
50
SlateDaniel Engber
As an allegory of racial conflict and mass immigration, District 9 never really goes anywhere: The appealing premise fades into the background before 20 minutes have elapsed. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Unfortunately, as in many such big-screen comic books, the backstory beats the hell out of the present-tense plot. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
The movie falls into the same uneasy category as "Eight Legged Freaks": too tongue-in-cheek to be thrilling, not funny enough to be a comedy. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It's a bad joke that District 9 will be hailed for its "originality." Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Yes, the premise is delightful; no, the delight doesn't last. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
There's a wonderfully sly, farcical verve to these early moments, but it dissipates when the script, with its strains of "E.T." and "The Fly," moves into high sci-fi gear. Read full review
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