This IS Science Fiction

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2010)

Let's be honest: The best science fiction we've ever read or seen does start with an impossible, incredible, at least highly unlikely idea.
Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, or Lem.
All of them ask you to believe in a very unbelievable idea from the very beginning of their stories.
I've seen District 9, and I've read a lot of the reviews giving it a low rating. Most of these ratings however make a lot of assumptions about what an encounter with an alien race would look like, what an alien race would want, desire, or be able to do. They complain about the unbelievable, the strange, the illogical.
I admit that some parts of the story do indeed seem illogical, but that's EXACTLY what the human race is all about! We ARE very unreasonable, have motives that would be quite impossible to understand from an alien point of view, and our cultures are so diverse that we hardly understand each other.
So, who's to complain about something unreasonable about an alien race? What the heck to WE understand about it? Nothing! I've recently seen Avatar (and I liked it), but in comparison, the cultural and social depth of District 9, the realization of being human, and what that means, what kind of species you're a part of, kicks you in the head with a much more powerful impact.
Naturally, the film is a film and must follow some rules of film making, and only has two hours to tell the story to the audience.
Taking into account, that the film has only a short time, that the subject touches not only technology, but also culture, history, present conflicts of our time, and of course introduces a whole new species, I've got to say it's the best science fiction film in years.
I'm giving it 9 out of 10, because there was indeed one moment of asking myself "What the heck is this?" However, compared to a lot of other films I've recently seen, District 9 still shows them all where to set the standards, what creativity means, what amateur actors can do, how to tell a compelling story, and how to approach a very difficult subject, and get it to work.
I'm very content that I finally saw this film, and I say to any TRUE science fiction fan who is able to admit that real science fiction involves SOME leap of faith: This is a film that I'd really recommend! Sincerely, codive