Good but not the classic many think it is

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2009)

I thought the film was pretty good, though I left the theater completely exhausted and not really the least bit "entertained". I hope that someday very soon the idea of hand-held camera work in major motion pictures will be seen for what it is: annoying and a bad idea.
Many previous reviews touch on the movie's strengths: the good looking CGI, the original treatment of aliens as second class citizens, etc. I agree with those points. But so many parts of this film which started to get me interested ending up being left unexplained. The alien's weapons angle, the 3 years angle (I guess that's when the sequel will take place) and the "liquid" and why it did what it did to the main character were the most glaring. I was left wondering a lot of things, with no answers.
To be fair, if you're a fan of sci-fi and you don't mind that camera work and a really uninteresting setting (the slums and HQ, I just wanted this movie to take me SOMEWHERE else for a few minutes), this movie could satisfy. Overall I thought it OK.