A unique surprise but still flawed

Rating: 5/10 (14 August 2009)

Many science-fiction films I have seen are about aliens taking over our world. What "District 9" has in store is not the same nor the opposite, but the idea that an alien species lands on Earth and are at the mercy of us. After seeing this movie, it makes me wonder, if aliens ever land on Earth, would we be so cruel to them? Would we only keep them alive for our advantages in weapons and technology?
This main concept of the film, in my mind, is what makes it unique. I appreciate the filmmakers in keeping this film quiet until its release today, for it is quite an interesting surprise.
The film itself is presented like a documentary, with a lot of hand-held work and characters talking directly to the camera, explaining to the audience the story about these aliens. This really helped in developing the plot, but it wasn't enough. There were several things left unexplained and felt rushed. I don't want to give even more of the story away, but I have to mention two things I found awkward.
One, the movie does not explain how the aliens understand our language, much less how we would understand there's (which is made up of deep clicks by the way). There are many scenes throughout the film where a human would talk to an alien, and it would understand them and vice versa. The other thing is how poorly the government enforces the isolation of the aliens from humans.
It is made very clearly that humans do not want to be around them, yet Nigerian gang bangers somehow live alongside the aliens in the slums, selling them food and weapons, as well as scamming them. Why would the government allow this? This leads to another issue on the barbarism and witchcraft, in which these gang bangers believe eating aliens makes you have their "special powers". This added no relevance to the story whatsoever.
There is plenty of blood/gore in the film, especially at the end where there is more firepower occurring than any of the "Rambo" movies combined together. It's almost as if Neill Blomkamp wanted to sicken the audience even more, showing us how messed up people, particularly ones who live in Africa, really are. It is understandable for shock value. I'll admit that this movie would have been pretty hokey if it were a PG-13. The R was needed, but it didn't need to go Paul Verhoeven on us.
A final remark I'll make about this film is the choice of actors. I didn't recognize any of them but they all did a swell job. It proves that it doesn't take a big Hollywood star to sell a movie. "District 9" is not a movie for everyone, particularly for little kids. The aliens in some instances may look cute but there is plenty of "bloody violence" and "pervasive language". This movie will probably receive mixed reviews, but I find it to be a decent one, though not spectacular.