This movie boldly goes where few thinking man science fiction movies are able, into the realm of edge of your seat dramatic popcorn munching entertainment.
This is the type of movie that has you chewing finger nails, cringing at explosions and cheering for the good guy. And, most importantly, thinking about the implications of aliens as a metaphor for African refugees.
If you've read any other reviews, you've read about the problems in the film. IMO, these problems are grossly exaggerated.
For instance, you don't like the protagonist, Wikus. He's kind of a spineless, xenophobic, overconfident, self-justifying jerk. He has his good points (like the way he treats his wife) but he has a lot of glaring flaws as well. But then, for me at least, this is an effective plot device. It works because he is a normal guy in an abnormal situation. His world is falling apart all around him and he is concerned primarily with reversing this trend. I would like to pretend that I wouldn't be selfish in his shoes, that I would place the welfare of an alien race over my own well-being, but like Wikus I love my wife and I enjoy my life. I would fight as hard as I could to keep the life I lead.
This is not a subtle film. You aren't really supposed to like humanity in general. You are supposed to relate to the very alien aliens. You feel for their plight. For instance, In almost the first scene the relationship between the "prawns" (a pejorative term used to describe the aliens) and genocide fleeing refugees is made brutally clear. In fact, they are even called refugees within the first few minutes.
Additionally (running with the theme of unjustified criticism), there is some shaky camera footage. Again, IMO this is effective. It highlights the chaotic nature of this situation. The movie is designed to be realistic. You watch it the way you would watch a developing story on CNN. So-called expert interview clips are interrupted by news footage. Some camera shots come from the clip of a gun, there are clips from security camera footage, and for me this worked. If you hated movies like the Bourne Ultimatum because of this technique, avoid this movie. But if you like to see movies with innovative film-work, check it out.
Finally, going with the criticism, the movie is bloody as hell. I saw a lot of children in the theater. They shouldn't have been there. Several dozen humans explode in a veritable orgy of gory blood and guts. This is a valid criticism of the film. If you care about that sort of thing. But then it's an action movie for Christ's sake, and it's rated R.
Again, this is not a subtle movie. It's a thought provoking movie masquerading as an action movie. But it is completely action packed. Some scenes are hard to believe, like an alien and a human taking on the world's second most powerful multi-national-arms-dealing-evil-empire-corporation armed only with desperate bravery and a couple of alien guns, but then it's a satisfying summer action thriller. It wouldn't work nearly as well without the unbelievable action sequences. The movie sucks you in, and spits you out raw and bloody. You leave the theater ragged and asthmatic. It's visually stunning in a way that is unbelievable for its tiny budget (well, tiny budget by Hollywood sci-fi action movie standards).
Seriously, the special effects will blow your mind. This movie looks more realistic than any scene in Transformers. I cannot believe how realistic and detailed the aliens look They move and act authentically alien, and they look and speak the part as well. I personally bought into the story, and I loved the way you, as a viewer, have to fill in the background. No one explains why the aliens came, or even very much about them. The viewer just sort of assumes that they're some sort of collective organism with highly intelligent but socially dependent drones that crash landed on earth because a strange space illness killed of their queen during routine extrasolar space exploration (or at least that's what I assumed).
The audience becomes an active participant in this movie, and that's what makes it so brilliant. In addition to edge of your seat suspense, the viewer struggles to connect the dots and fill in the back story for the alien refugees. It unfolds like an actual real life documentary. You leave the theater pissed off at the human race, but in a good way (an entertaining and thought provoking way).
And, on a intellectual level, the movie also works very well. The obvious parallel here is apartheid South Africa. But it's about so much more than that. Actually it's not really about this at all, or at least in any direct way. It's about immigration and violence and neo colonial greed and refugees. You could say that it's about the reality of a "post" colonial Africa. It's about how violence and economics are often linked, and it's brutally (and in no way subtlety) effective.
A solid movie, it effectively walks the razor's edge between being entertaining and thought provoking.
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