Gets better with each viewing

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2010)

OK, so by no means a perfect film, but does ask a very original question. Exactly what would we do if 2 million + aliens turned up on our doorstep tomorrow with nowhere else to go ?
They have interstellar technology but no power left to drive it, 99.9% of the aliens have no idea how to use it anyway and worst still the moveable pieces of technology they have (ie..weapons) are useless to us as they are all DNA encoded so they will only work for the aliens themselves.
I think it offends a lot of 1st world viewers of this film that we would actually treat a space fairing species this badly, but I think a lot of 3rd world viewers watch it and probably have a more realistic view of life, if they are not strong enough to take over and have nothing for us to exploit, somewhere like District 9 is pretty much where they would probably end up.
So, to change things around, I'm going to start with the weak points..
1) South Africa - I just wished that the film could have been based anywhere but here, while appreciating that a lot of the on location shots didn't even need to be created I think the impact would have been a whole lot bigger if the alien landfall had happened in a deep southern state of the USA. I just felt it gave a lot of people a 'cop out' to be able to think it wouldn't happen like that here.
2) The Bad Guys - OK, we all like bad guys to be bad guys, but these were like sooooo bad guys !!! A little less would actually have been a whole lot more.
And the good stuff...
1) Sharlto Copley - Starts out as a total nerd, someone you actually really dislike at the start of the film but come to like, admire and finally cheer for at the end of the film. A stunning performance and a credit to the actor for doing something I don't think I have ever seen anyone do so well in a film before.
2) The effects - Seamless in a way I'm pretty sure none of us have seen before. They are no Avatar pretty, but real life in a way that has pretty much raised the bar a long way for anyone in the future.
So no, not perfect, just a bloody good film
Simon