This is a director with something important to tell his audience.

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2013)

It's as powerful a movie as District 9 was. I was curious whether he'd be able to keep it together among Hollywood budgets and sycophants...And it appears he has. It's brilliant. Powerful. This man has a knack for giving the audience a front row seat to what Hell looks like. ...But then again, HE actually know's hell's face...He's from South Africa. I hope it gives Americans some idea why nearly a thousand people risk their life, limb, and freedom every day to come to THIS country. If you're from the USA, and watching this movie didn't make you feel the teeniest bit guilty about your good fortune, then you weren't paying attention. I also enjoyed the progression of Matt Damon's character. Rarely in cinema is the story-line of a 'common man' rising above his circumstances to become something more than he was, morally speaking. ...And now, Blumkamp has done it twice. Bravo!
All that being said, it was a little rough in it's pacing, and dialog...Though that may be because Neill had to pare it down to it's bone without losing it's message. Hopefully he'll be going back in soon and retrieving those bits left on the editors floor and give it that extra 20 minutes that would make it a fuller story once again.