The documentary style has been employed elsewhere before, but there's nothing quite like District 9 in all movie history. Its weird and wonderful story starts off with nice comic touches and transitions into a harrowing tale of human torture, and ends as some action-adventure of sorts, complete with superb visual effects, with some nice creature ideas. Sure there's warts here and there (I could not stand the resilience of the villain, and I found the gang leader ridiculous), but to have a gem like this emerge from my country of residence, South Africa, is quite something. It is the best movie based there. The lead performance also deserves applaud.