Original, visually stunning and one of the best sci-fi films seen in a long time.

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2010)

One of the most original science fiction films that have come out in a long time, District 9 has all the right elements to be one of the best sci-fi films ever.
Let's begin with the story/directing: Now ever since E.T., I've been waiting for a science fiction film that truly had something interesting to say and of course combine it with some good old fashion sci-fi style action that we all love. Some elements of this film have been seen before, but only in very little and unimportant aspects, in here the aliens come to our world and become minorities, segregated from other humans and kept in closure inside the very small area of District 9, where particularly a man working for MNU (which is a fake government agency invented in this film), Wikus Van de Merve, is sent to transfer the aliens to a new sector, oddly enough he becomes infected with a certain chemical which begins to mutate his body, eventually finding out what the real reason why the prawns (aliens) never left earth, and also becoming the most valuable artifact in the world. The beginning of this story itself is very original, it doesn't do like most movies would, it begins fast, quickly explaining the cultural and economic situations that Johannesburg is in, also it's a much better beginning because this way you don't get too confused focusing on secondary characters rather than the main ones (Wikus Van de Merve and Christopher).The direction was fundamental to district 9's originality, it's like a combination between documentary and regular film style, the beginning might seem boring to some, but i found it to be great, quick and informative about the story, we see and learn all we need to know about the film with the quick 5-8 minutes of documentary like footage. The story develops well from the moment it started until the end of the film, of which I will hope that Blompkamp makes a sequel of.
Now the acting/characters/interaction between them: First of all one must cut some slack for the leading actor Sharlto Copley (Wikus Van de Merve) because this his first big film, and I must say for being his first time, he does it very well, not like an outstanding actor, but for his first time it's very well done and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised for his performance, his character Wikus is not meant to be an all powerful savior or hero without many exceptional capabilities (except that he is the only human who can use alien weaponry), he is more of the working class type of person, who isn't picked by fate or anything, he was just a regular guy whose life changed in within a matter of seconds and I liked that rather than a prophecy hero of legend or a man on a mission, Wikus could of been anyone of us. Now Christopher, despite being an animated character with no one in particular giving him a voice, is a very important character whose personality moved me, being him one of the few prawns that actually had a plan or at least seemed to be smarter and much willing to do things for his people and his son, I found him to be a very important character that if done differently it would have compromised the great story this film brings. The interaction between both Wikus and Chris is original as well, if you're expecting the E.T thing where they becomes friends out of nowhere then you'll be disappointed, in here it's much more realistic, Wikus and Chris don't necessarily become friends but merely work together due to a quid pro quo case where Chris promises to stop Wikus' mutation and cure him if Wikus helps him get his fuel back so that he'll return to his planet, thus this means that they aren't mutual friends, they were not suppose to have this type of E.T scenario where I will cry if you go away. No, it's more realistic in this sense. Now as for the acting from the secondary characters and their interaction, they were also very good. During the documentary style beginning everyone (prawns included) made it feel real and believable, and for the non-documentary scenes, characters such as Koobus (David James) are the great villain cliché we all like to see, mean, evil and typically has a problem with our human protagonist.
Special Effects: Now don't get me started with the special effects... they're just marvelous and outstanding, the main thing that helped keep the realism of the film was how incredibly realistic the CGI was, now I know that CGI doesn't make a film great, but unless it's story requires good effects than it might as well have some decent CGI. What is also great is how dirty and grungy the aliens, and their technology is rather than shinny and new, made it feel all that more amazing.
Overall, the film delivers well thought out story, with amazing jaw-dropping special effects and great acting. Definitely one of the best science fiction films I have seen in a long time.