Original, but not perfect

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 2015)

Today, originality is rare, especially in the sci-fi genre. When we look at the wonderful blockbusters of recent days, such as Inception, we begin to notice a pattern: almost all major science-fiction films fundamentally have been made, albeit slightly differently, before. In Inception's case we can consider The Matrix, from which many major ideas have been recycled.
Maybe, in District 9, we have something different. In a realistic story that focuses on the politics of an alien invasion as much as the action, I found myself watching a story somewhat unlike any that I had ever seen, in which morals, the true ideas behind characters and who to support in a non-binary are not necessarily clear.
Sharlto Copley gives a strong, charismatic and believable take on the character 'Wikus'. This main character is not overly likable but not annoying. However, this is not the brilliance of the characterisation: the character goes on a physical and mental arc, in which his moral compass, ideas and form are changed in numerous ways. These changes make the character brilliantly compelling and watchable.
The design of the aliens are also a positive of the film: they look strong but not wholly evil, which is representative of their place in the story. However, one must question in a film where most aspects seem realistic, whether this design is to be believed, and the answer is, unfortunately, no. The aesthetics of these aliens are too humanoid for the audience to believe that they developed outside of our world, and the idea that they can survive here without any side-effects is overly convenient.
It is this convenience in which I believe the film is flawed. The plot may be the film's greatest asset, in the fact that it is original, but it is also its weakness, as the ridiculous coincidences of some events can distract from the aspect of realism that the film otherwise maintains.
The plot, unfortunately, wasn't the only weakness of the film. For a sci-fi action movie, the action seemed somewhat lacking in creativity; it never looked as though it was going to advance past the stage of immature and unnecessary violence - like people getting blown to smithereens with alien laser guns - and this gives it a painful Michael-Bayesque feel. I wish there were more scenes of exciting hand-to-hand combat of the likes that we saw in 2014's greatest (in every sense of the word) flop Edge of Tomorrow, or 2010s Inception, which certainly was not a flop in any way. To me, it seems a tragedy that these films were not sufficiently recognised by the academy, whereas District 9 (the admittedly inferior film) was.
When we see originality, we must forgive its overly convenient plot and the frustratingly uninventive fight scenes, and focus on what is a surprisingly political story with an interesting message.