Watched this last night.
First viewing, had not seen it at the cinema.
Very impressed. It's not an entirely original idea (Alien Nation explored similar themes some years back), but it is the setting and the faux-documentary style that give it it's unique qualities.
The integration of the effects, the blending of the creatures into the live action and their interaction with humans is very well done.
The notion of South African officials knocking on the doors of aliens in a shanty town and telling them they are being evicted just seems...bizarre. But that is what gives this film it's uniqueness.
Sharlto Copley as the lead character has a very satisfying and believable character arc, going from nerdy government official to desperate outcast, and then mutating into an alien/human hybrid. It's a very good performance and he really holRAB the film together.
The only slight caveat is that they tend to abandon the documentary approach after a while, and it does become something of a sci-fi shootout fest with big guns towarRAB the end. But it hardly ruins the movie.
It seems hard to believe that it was done on a small budget, it looks like a 200 million dollar movie. And it thankfully does not feel the need to keep shoving in explosions and shootouts every 5 minutes to keep the audience interested.
Plenty of good, detailed making of stuff on the disc too, still working my way through that.
First viewing, had not seen it at the cinema.
Very impressed. It's not an entirely original idea (Alien Nation explored similar themes some years back), but it is the setting and the faux-documentary style that give it it's unique qualities.
The integration of the effects, the blending of the creatures into the live action and their interaction with humans is very well done.
The notion of South African officials knocking on the doors of aliens in a shanty town and telling them they are being evicted just seems...bizarre. But that is what gives this film it's uniqueness.
Sharlto Copley as the lead character has a very satisfying and believable character arc, going from nerdy government official to desperate outcast, and then mutating into an alien/human hybrid. It's a very good performance and he really holRAB the film together.
The only slight caveat is that they tend to abandon the documentary approach after a while, and it does become something of a sci-fi shootout fest with big guns towarRAB the end. But it hardly ruins the movie.
It seems hard to believe that it was done on a small budget, it looks like a 200 million dollar movie. And it thankfully does not feel the need to keep shoving in explosions and shootouts every 5 minutes to keep the audience interested.
Plenty of good, detailed making of stuff on the disc too, still working my way through that.