Right, in short, in my opinion it is outstanding. I’m talking about influencing the genre in the same way 2001, Star Wars, Alien etc have in the past.
Plot basics: 20 years ago a big ass alien mothership full of stranded aliens lands over Johannesburg. The Government stick all the aliens (Prawns) in a generic dump of a slum and over the next 20 years there is all sort of riots etc. There is a lot of crime (including inter-species prostitution Spaz ) and some Nigerian gangsters set up shop there. The MNU (Multinational United) send in Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) and his team to evict the Prawns and send them to what is essentially a concentration camp. From there it all kicks off.
Basically we have 3 plots going on at once…
- Merwe is ‘exposed’ to this fluidy gunk which, lets just say, messes him up a wee bit, and eventually he has to be on the run from his own people.
- A Prawn named Christopher Johnson (Seriously) and his son are working on a way of getting home.
- The Nigerian gangsters want Merwe.
Pros
- Sharlto Copley as Wikus van de Merwe is exceptional. Great performance. A deeply flawed character but you learn to like and admire him.
- The design of the Prawns is very good, at first I thought they were very poorly designed and just standard ugly monster. But after a while the design starts to suit the picture, and it all just fits.
- The cinematography is incredible. Every now and again during a big fight scene it will switch to a FPS style shot, following the soldier rather than the action.
- The switch between traditional narrative and documentary is swift, smooth and well done.
- The social commentary is not preachy, but worked nicely.
- The effects are top notch, the gradual change to Merwe is very well done.
- I liked the fact that the Prawns were not shown as mindless sheep (see Independence Day etc), but as real people with real lives. The relationship between Christopher and his son is engaging and you do find yourselves on their side.
- It is the story, not the concept that drives it forward. The ending is very emotional without being over done.
- The decision to not include the US in anyway was a nice change.
- There is a bit of humour every now and again which I thought was a nice touch (for example a p*ssed Prawn throwing up on his house).
Cons
- The generic big bad army guy (think McConaughey in Reign of Fire) is just too wooden and uninteresting for my liking.
- The Nigerian Mob boss wasn’t as fleshed out as he could have been.
Summary: Original, interesting, compelling and executed perfectly, see this film: 9/10
