Getting to experience this phenomenon through the eyes of South Africans, who have been directed with uncommon confidence by a fellow South African, makes the whole thing feel as much like a foreign art film as it does an action or science fiction film. The marriage worked wonders for me.

And, as I’ve implied several times already on Facebook, I sure hope the financial results of this little experiment in Johannesburg (the film, not the alien relocation) causes the big studios to rethink the monstrous budget they give the Michael Bays of the world (well, at least that they give Michael Bay).

I’ve read several reviews which compare the film to The Terminator because it has that sort of powerful effect on the viewer. When it ends, you just know you’ve entered what should be a new chapter in the movie business. Fingers crossed, Blomkamp doesn’t lose his way in the narrative.