Matisse van Rossum’s review published on Letterboxd:
I'm a huge science fiction fan, and I believe that Neill Blomkamp's District 9 is the best sci-fi film of the 2000's, and I say that with complete confidence. It has its own unique, visceral atmosphere that sets it apart in a genre that is typically plagued by cookie-cutter universes. Set in Johannesburg, District 9 is not subtle about its reference to apartheid, but it manages to be so effective that it doesn't need to be. The film more so shouts it in your face, rather than hit you over the head with it, but even so, it provides a very fresh, creative take on a dark aspect of history.
The style of District 9 is a huge part of what makes it so fun to watch. The first act is done completely in documentary style, but does this successfully without a lot of contrivance. Then it makes an extremely subtle shift into the traditional film narrative style, but it still intercuts at first with shots from security cameras or news footage, so the shift is barely even noticeable until it's already happened. I'm always amazed by how masterfully this transition is accomplished. I've seen this film what feels like a million times and it still manages to catch me by surprise. This is an absolute credit to the skill of Blomkamp, even as a breakout director. Another thing I appreciate about District 9 is its refusal to shove details about its universe down your throat. It gives a very brief, concise history of the aliens' arrival and the foundation of District 9, but leaves many details ambiguous, forcing you to just accept the fact that the universe exists and to not worry about minor things that are not relevant to the plot. For instance, how do the humans and the prawns understand each other's language? It doesn't really matter. The aliens have been on Earth so long that it's just a fact that languages are understood, and if you're an intelligent viewer, you can come to your own conclusions.
Another strength of District 9 is its reliance on flawed characters rather than stereotypical action heroes. For most of the film, you don't know whether to loath Wikus van der Merwe or to sympathize with him. He has both noble aspects as well as intensely self-centered ones, and throughout the film we're often left with the question of whether he'll do the right thing. A large part of what makes Wikus such an excellent character is his portrayal by the marvelous Sharlto Copely, who I believe is a very underappreciated actor. He delivers such an earnest and heartfelt performance that it doesn't feel like he's an actor playing Wikus, he just is Wikus. The other show-stealer is the prawn, Christopher Johnson. Not only is the creature design of the prawns excellent and the CGI perfectly convincing, but I've never seen aliens that are so easy to sympathize with, and this is due mostly to the character development of Christopher Johnson. He is the closest thing District 9 has to a true hero, and is more relatable than some humans I've seen in other films, which is a testament to a well constructed story and script.
I want to briefly touch on how good the CGI is in this film. While I'm always one who prefers practical effects over CGI, Distric 9 does CGI right. There's enough attention to detail and care put into it that it makes the aliens and their technology blend in with their surroundings and look like they're actually there rather than looking like weird, slick computer graphics. The facial expressions of the prawns look so real that they can elicit a legitimate emotional response.
District 9 ended up being more of a sleeper hit, partially thanks to the overwhelming competition of Avatar the same year, and I've never met a person who liked both films. It's obvious where I stand, and though largely unappreciated, District 9 is one of the best, most raw science fiction film of the past decade, if not all time, and is without a doubt one of my absolute favorites. It's a film I will never get tired of watching.