Great tale about aliens who come to earth and the real danger is to themselves......

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2009)

Peter Jackson isn't exactly orthodox with his choice of films, and he continues in that vein with this gem. Aliens (or "prawns" as they are referred to) have arrived and are cornered into ramshackle ghettos in Johannesburg South Africa. Bad enough for humans, the aliens themselves appear degenerate in their surroundings. Along comes the "MNU" unit led by Wikus van der Merwe to evict the aliens and force them into a squalid camp which is nothing less than a concentration camp. Winke is a man who had landed his lead role through old fashioned nepotism and is seriously out of his depth. By some accident, he becomes infected by a liquid which slowly is transforming him into one of the aliens themselves. The race is on for him to find a cure to reverse the condition and the need to forge an unlikely alliance to get this done.
The storyline may not appeal to most but it is actually very fascinating. The film turns the genre on its head in many ways. The aliens are generally weak despite being technically advanced, our lead character is a weak man (no Flash Gordon) and the setting is the unlikely location of Johannesburg (South Africa). The last part is important. The film really is a social commentary or reflection on South African and racism from the old Apartheid days. It's quite startling and a bit of an eye opener. Maybe as it's not humans as the victims, you feel less uncomfortable in watching it but there the point hits home in a way.
The initial mock documentary style direction gets you into the action and story, whilst the acting by our lead man is great. He has to make you change your emotions for him a number of times in the film, from humour to horror to disgust and then to sympathy and so on. The aliens are very inhuman in their appearance but the CGI is excellent and you really believe they are for real at points. Some good action carries you along but the portrayal of the Nigerians in the camps is understandably controversial. That's a discussion for another day, best just see them representative of a gangster group (no matter what colour, race or nationality).
Anyhow, it's a very good film, but definitely more for adults (not at all for kids). It can amaze and frighten, and at the end you will have a lot to think and talk about. Good themes and great direction. The film is open-ended so allows for a sequel. On this showing, many will be looking forward to its release.