A taut, engrossing and involving science fiction classic

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2010)

This is a superb film.
While dark and violent, the gore is not too much in your face. In fact the violence is played for dark humor the film as a more subtle, but similar vein to the way that director Paul Verhoeven used black humour in "Robocop" and "Starship Troopers".
The story is this films strength. It is dense and interesting, which rewards the viewer as when seeing it again other things come to light. The social comment is there in spades, from the less subtle metaphors for apartheid (in a general rather than specific sense) to the more subtle comments of creation of a subclass, corporate greed,conspiracy, personal prejudice (and a personal reassessment of it)and the very clever use of the use of cat food as both a plot device and further social comment.
The directing is superb for a first time film-maker. While the interspersing of mockumentary recordings with a traditional film structure does take a bit of getting used to ( the cinematography between the mockumentary and conventional filmic scenes is too similar - it should have been degraded it a bit more) this is the only very minor quibble I had with this movie. What is so good is that the directing is restrained and controlled, as is the special effects (kudos to all the companies involved). The alien characters are can be related to, particularly the 'alien son' character. Very impressive when considering the size of the films budget compared to usual Hollywood fare. It is certainly true that this film is a classic example of 'less is more'.
The acting really brings the story to life. There is not a bad performance anywhere. Small parts are incredibly well realised and really allow you to connect with all the characters - all I can say is bravo. The actor who plays the reference for the key Alien characters is superb and his relationship with his 'son alien' character brings an incredible amount of heart to the story. In fact, is allows the films climax and pay off to be incredibly emotional and powerful, even though its not a neat stereotypical one.
However, the ultimate star in the acting department has to be Sharlto Copley, who performance as a corporate drone who undergoes a transformation both literally, but more importantly psychologically, is a tour de force and I find is really surprising that this performance was not acknowledged sufficiently at formal award ceremonies. It was known that their was a lot of improvisation in his acting, which certainly has contributed to a fascinating character that you end up really caring for by the end of the film. The character's personal journey was what keeps you engrossed throughout the film, and shows you don't need a $200-$300 million dollar budget, a 3 hour running time, and expensive action/special fx sequences in every frame to make a sci-fi movie that lots of people will enjoy, remember and think about after they have seen it.
Having said that, the action sequences are extremely well done, with a reality,inventiveness and black humour to them. In fact, they remind me of the low budget inventiveness of films such as the original 'Terminator','Robocop' and 'Predator' from the 80s, which had to figure out what could be achieved without CG. Film-makers had to create a better balance of inserted post production effects with effects on camera filmed live.
Design and and cinematography, shooting with digital cameras rather than film was excellent(apart from the minor aforementioned gripe). The music by Clinton Shorter, while similar in style to Terminator and the Zimmer/Newton Howard Batman scores, works very well with the film, particularly with the layering in of native music and sounds.
In all a fantastic achievement. I look forward, after 3 to 4 years to the follow up, which will hopefully follow in the traditional of the tradition of Aliens, T2 and The Dark Knight as strong sequels to an excellent initial film.