District 9 is almost what a dream South African movie should be: starring South Africans, written by South Africans, directed by a South African and set in South Africa. That's not to say that it is an entirely South African production - the CGI is largely by WETA (of the Lord of the Rings Fame), music is not entirely South African (although Zola stars quite a bit) and it is produced by Peter Jackson.
And it should be; it has all the fundamental parts right: story, acting and production. A brilliant storyline (although it has lots of apartheid parallels, I think it rings closer to last year's xenophobic attacks than on apartheid) about an alien ship stranded in Johannesburg, and how they are put into slums and kept apart from the "humans". And the movie raises a number of very uncomfortable philosophical questions (which have been raised before in science fiction literature, but not in this manner) regarding the basic concept of human rights and would these extend to other "intelligent" species (or for that matter to non intelligent species.
The acting, many by new actors, is equally impressive with very believable performances. It is a South African movie starring South Africans - not Americans with fake accents. The dialogue and mannerisms are utterly believable making this movie very "authentic".
And lastly, the production values are superb; especially the CGI for the aliens and their technology. The aliens feature one of the best animations I have seen, and the scenes of alien weapons being utilised are spectacular.
I have seen a lot of comments on how well the movie can become a serial - I sincerely hope not. I think District 9 had a story to tell, and it told it well. Like the first Matrix movie, it may not close all the plot lines, but it is actually better that way.
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