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The original was posted on /r/movies by /u/EyebrowsGuy95 on 2024-04-09 03:55:19.

Man, what a film. Considering it was Neill Blomkamp’s directorial debut, made on a budget of $30 million back in 2009, it still stands up to this day.

You’ve got some superb CGI paired with extremely impressive practical elements, with a clever blending of social commentary and deep personal stakes for Sharlto Copley’s character. Easily one of the most underrated actors of the last 15 years, Copley is a joy to watch as Wikus van de Merwe, going from bumbling business man who couldn’t care less about the aliens (sorry, FOOKIN’ PRAWNS!), to desperate fugitive doing whatever he can to return home to his wife, to a straight up badass prawn defender by the end.

Simple enough character arc, guy is mean to outsiders, later seeks help from outsiders, goes on to help outsiders. But thanks to Copley’s magnificent performance and the highly effective writing, it’s a wonderfully realised journey, often brutal but highly satisfying.

Alongside the brilliantly realised prawns, both visually and thematically, a brisk yet uncompromising runtime of 112 minutes which affords it a really good pace, some REALLY inventive action scenes (a dead CGI pig is violently propelled at a soldier…need I say more?), and a fun incorporation of found footage elements that work pretty well for the most part, it’s just a really neat original sci-fi action film.

Funny really, as the films Blomkamp would later go on to direct, being Chappie and Elysium, would have budgets of $49 million and $115 million respectively, yet both fall short of D9’s high quality in my opinion (although admittedly I do have a bit of a soft spot for Elysium).

Just goes to show what you can do with 30 million tins of cat food, an endorsement from Peter Jackson, and a dream.