The first thing you notice with this film is its striking originality and disregard for generic hollywood laws. The film starts right away with all the film's strengths, depicting incredibly good special effects, fresh and humble acting, an original half-documentary style and a fascinating story that leaves you constantly thirsting for more. In addition to its Apartheid-influenced and psychologically layered story, the director managed to include some absolutely genius action sequences that are immensely satisfying to watch, which is a feat in itself. Plus, the main character depicts some of my favorite acting in recent times, despite this being his first time.
One downside: the film leaves a ton of stuff open-ended. This might annoy some people, although personally, I think it was the right choice; it leaves the viewer with the impression of actually having been a bystander of all this story, from the point of view of a normal human instead of a all-seeing god cameraman. It makes you feel like you're part of it all, in my opinion.
In a sentence:
Brilliant effects, a fresh and captivating story and acting that comes from the heart make this one of the best movies of the year.
