der Merwe amuses the audience because he's not smart enough to know when he should be afraid. The documentary-style successfully makes us fee feel like we're peeking into the secret lives of aliens.

Good, so far, right? I mean, I just re-read my own copy and thought, "Hey this film sounds all right." Then I flashback to the theater where my two companions snored through the ending and I thought, "think again."

With all due fairness, I liked the ending. Ebert didn't.

I liked it because the story's pace finally sped up. I finally got excited to be watching this "adventure." Entertain me! And even more than being complex and unique, a movie has to simply be good. It must keep the majority of the people in my row awake.

Scratch deeply and District 9 has the possibility to make audiences compare the aliens' situation to foreign policy, apartheid in the U.S. and more notably, South Africa. It has a solid, complicated, even funny story-line. Yet it ultimately fails miserably because the movie drags, crashes, and in its totality, burns.

I'm not going to spoil the $35 million-dollar opening movie's fated plot-twist and tell you what monumental thing happened to de Merwe. But I will suggest instead of spending $9 at the theater, spend $2 on the bootleg. Rome is selling them on 79th Street for 3 for $5 if you mention my name ;)


Shakenya Jackson boasts she is among Chicago's finest writers. She enjoys long walks in the park and dirty dishes.