Why can't they make more movies like this?

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2009)

I'm not a science fiction fan at all so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and being too generous by giving this movie a 9/10. But this really is one of the most stunning movies I saw this year. It's so weird (in a good way) that you can't help but applaud the filmmaker for having the guts to make a movie like this.
The film is set in an alternate reality and starts by telling us of an alien spaceship that stalled over Johannesburg, SA in the 1980s. Nothing emerges from the ship so the SA govt sends a team to explore it and they find it filled with aliens. They're malnourished and in need of attention so they bring them down and set up a community for them to live in. This area soon becomes a militarised slum (District 9).
Skip forward about 20 years and we are introduced to Wikus van de Merwe who is in charge of relocating aliens to a new area. Legally, the govt. needs the signed consent of the aliens to move them and it's his job to get their signature and deal with any unruly aliens. Things don't go as planned and Wilke is forced to face up to some ugly realities.
The story, special effects and message are all great. It switches between "documentary" footage and the feature film to give it a sense of authenticity and there's also a great sense of humour, which caught me off guard but didn't seem out of place.
What I loved about this movie was how realistic it felt. Every other alien movie you've seen has a showdown between the two races and it's either us or the alien race as the aggressor. This movie treats the aliens more as a different race than as dangerous visitors. Initially, there are no fireworks, no display of superiority, instead the showdown is in the form of a bizarre refugee crisis as South Africans are forced to coexist with their new neighbours.
There are some slow parts during the second half, which fu cks with the pacing but these are forgivable flaws in a movie this unique.
Easily one of the best movies I saw this year.