*A couple minor spoilers here*
I enjoyed the movie quite a lot. What really made me happy was for the most part I was able to suspend my disbelief, primarily due to the style with which it was made. This made me happy, as there were only a couple "oh come on..." moments for me. I haven't been able to say that about a sci-fi movie in many a moon. That being said, I do not believe it deserves the 10/10 that so many people are willing to throw at anything decent nowadays. I would however give it a solid 8 or 8.5 .
Allegory is a simple but effective means to get a point across. For those who did not pick up on it, please go back to 9th grade English (or your preferred language) class. I really liked the pick of J-burg for a shooting location, particuarly because they shot it in an actual slum that was being "relocated." It added a gritty and realistic feel to the whole set, and increased the immersion significantly. Also I have a hard time with the complaints that the movie portrayed humans in too dark a nature -- but that may be the rampant cynic in me. I thought if anything the humans were almost unrealistically trusting of the prawns, particularly during the eviction.
Anyway, it is definitely a good flick and (without having seen too many) my favorite of the summer. It is definitely a bit of a rip-off of alien nation, but is in my opinion a significantly better movie. I would be happy
without a sequel as I don't enjoy being spoon-fed contrived plot lines just to "finish" a story. (See BSG, season 4
) That being said, I have a hard time believing one will not show up in 3 summers.
