Not without holes, but still good

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2010)

This movie seems to have a devoted base of reviewers split into two equal groups, one of which rate it as the best movie of the year and the other of which rates at the level of the garbage dump therein.
To start, yes, there are plot holes. Yes, more than a few. 1) A species of aliens in control of superior technology seem to be helpless against the government with projectile weapons, despite the aliens possession of projectile weapons, energy weapons, and robots. 2) Alien "fuel" somehow transforms a man into a prawn genetically. 3) In the very end, Wikus is in an alien robot with energy weapons for arms. He's fighting a bunch of mercenaries with AK's and other projectile weapons. Hey! FIRE BACK! It would be easy! Kill them first, then run! Wikus instead uses this robot as a shield while talking to Christopher. Where does this sudden empathy come from, so much that he's willing to sacrifice himself to save an alien he knocked unconscious ten minutes earlier, because the alien wanted to save his race from being "medical experiments" before helping Wikus? 4) How many villains die at the last second because they wasted time talking about how much they were going to enjoy killing the hero in question?
People continue to complain about character development, which I think the movie did just fine. What would you like more of, Wikus's family history? More would have gotten in the way of the movie. What about the history of the aliens, or Christopher and Oliver? We know all we need to know by the conditions they're forced to live in.
I think it's good that the story of district 9 is not completely cliché. The main character isn't the only person who sees the problems with human / alien society. In fact, the main character is mostly an asshole right up until the end. This is realistic.
This movie is not by all means perfect. District 9 has it's share of plot holes, and things that don't make sense, and clichés, but it is still very original, and the story is well presented. The characters all make sense, and there isn't a single bad acting role throughout. Not to mention some of the best CGI effects I've seen. Unlike other movies, *coughAVATARcough* District 9 doesn't depend entirely on it's visual effects to be a good movie.