Essential plot rundown: A poor guy from earth must fight his way to the rich space station above to save his life. This is from the same writer/director of District 9, which I thought was really good, so I had to go see it. And I had nothing else going on today.
I really liked Elysium. However, I do have to say that it started off a little rocky, but was rolling smoothly by the time it was over. The biggest problem for me was how some of the characters were introduced; it felt too rushed. The audience is blatantly told that the villain is bad, instead of being shown he is bad. And when Matt Damon's buddy is introduced, I just thought he was just some random guy. But it turns out that he is kind of a big shot; I didn't get any of that when he was first introduced. (And on a similar note, the story that the little girl tells Matt feels shoehorned in there and rushed.)
But those were really they only complaints I had. I thought Neill Blomkamp did a good job building worlds; this was a believable and realistic (as realistic as a futuristic sci-fi flick will be) environment. I believed and felt for the poor living on desolated Earth and I believed that a space station exclusively for the rich existed.
Speaking of believability, the SFX were amazing. The spaceships look real, the robots looked like real characters. Everything was seamlessly put together. It all looked great. (Interestingly enough, the director graduated from film school with an emphasis in animation and visual effects.)
Actually, I did have another complaints: some of the accents. I found Kruger's accent distracting (yes, I know he's from South Africa). And I had a hard time understanding Spider at times. So I was a little confused on occasion when I missed some expository dialogue. However, I liked Jodie Foster's accents and felt it added a little to the character.
Right before I wrote this, I was looking through the message boards on IMDB. And most of them were political debates. Yes, this movie does have a moral; but I when I saw it, I didn't see the 1% vs the 99% or Wall Street vs Main Street. I saw it on a personal level. And I personally liked it. But there is much a heated debate on those message boards.
Overall, I really liked it. There were a few things that bothered me and a couple of plot-holes. But it is entertaining and it does give you something to think about. Also, Neill must like blowing people up because in Elysium and District 9 that happens a lot.
But that's just my opinion...
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