Certainly one of the best Sci-Fi this year, possibly of the last century, maybe of all time

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2009)

Many sci-fi/action films have tried but very few have really pulled it off in so many ways, District 9 is that film....finally Sci-FI is back in its greatest form!!
District 9 is possibly one the greatest visions of earth-space contact in memory. It is so much more than "just another alien movie" it works on levels of action, character, emotion, and social commentary.
The mockumentary style (which is carefully and resourcefully utilized) is often an overused tool that often masks lack of character, plot, and story. Here, it is brilliantly interspersed as a tone device and character piece. It manages to dodge the typical "shaky-camera-syndrome" of Blair Witch and Cloverfield while the outlook manages to deliver intensity and appropriate tone to the first act.
Certainly the most disturbing is the all-too accurate depiction of governmental reaction, irritation, exploitation, and fear of the aliens. Example being the use of "relocation camps", where they promise the aliens will be more "comfortable" and "free to flourish". The social interaction of humans with the aliens, bartering, co-existing etc is intriguing as we often have wondered how/if two species could co-exist.
The film manages elements and tones on par with Alien, Terminator, Total Recall, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) while depicting the struggles to co-exit and instinctual interactions of The Killing Fields, The Deer Hunter, and Black Hawk Down. Finally, the film manages to create the human-alien connection, empathy, and emotion of films like Starman,Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.
The depiction and action of the aliens is brilliant part CGI, part live action. They really become an integral part of the story and provide a plethora of glimpses into their social and psychological adaption to life on Earth. Most interesting is the instinctive employment of violence and intimidation by the humans versus the lack of understanding and little knowledge of it by the aliens.
Above this all, District 9 manages to become a truly reflection of classic sci-fi, action, and a gritty depiction of social interaction, and humans' "print" on anything that opposes or bewilders it.