Elysium

[Hiccup]

Strong film. Not as good as District 9 but the best of the original sci-fi flicks of 2013 by far (quality). Must see!!

 

8.5/10

[Ozymandias]

I gave it a B+

 

 

 

Pluses: With one notable exception, the gritty realistic technology featured throughout the movie was a treat, same goes for the weapons.  Besides the tech, most of what I liked were the performances.  Sharlto Copley did an impressive turn as the nasty Kruger.  He ranks up there as one of this year's Best Villains.  Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, and Wagner Moura (Spider) did very well in their respective roles as well.  I really liked the concept, the overall story and the fact they didn't lay on the apartheid undertones too thick.  

 

 

 

Minuses: generally speaking, for me, whenever a movie uses children/wives, let alone sick children/wives, to move a plot along and give the hero something to care about, I dunno, it just seems a bit hamfisted,manipulative, and forced.  I kinda wish his initial self preservation motive was, ahem, preserved, throughout the flick and at the end he sacrifices himself.  

 

The med bays, cmon, seriously...Prometheus now this?  I don't think we'll ever have the technology to reconstruct someone's face within seconds.  Seems too unrealistic...too out there.  

 

Overall, a strong film.  One of this year's best although that isn't saying much.  

 

I don't see how rabid healing medpods in science fiction movies is a problem.  The lead runs around in a power suit that is drilled into his head/skeleton and plugged into his brain for god sake.

 

Seeing this tomorrow btw.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Shpongle

[Deep Wang]

I gave it a B+

 

 

 

Pluses: With one notable exception, the gritty realistic technology featured throughout the movie was a treat, same goes for the weapons.  Besides the tech, most of what I liked were the performances.  Sharlto Copley did an impressive turn as the nasty Kruger.  He ranks up there as one of this year's Best Villains.  Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, and Wagner Moura (Spider) did very well in their respective roles as well.  I really liked the concept, the overall story and the fact they didn't lay on the apartheid undertones too thick.  

 

 

 

Minuses: generally speaking, for me, whenever a movie uses children/wives, let alone sick children/wives, to move a plot along and give the hero something to care about, I dunno, it just seems a bit hamfisted,manipulative, and forced.  I kinda wish his initial self preservation motive was, ahem, preserved, throughout the flick and at the end he sacrifices himself.  

 

The med bays, cmon, seriously...Prometheus now this?  I don't think we'll ever have the technology to reconstruct someone's face within seconds.  Seems too unrealistic...too out there.  

 

Overall, a strong film.  One of this year's best although that isn't saying much.  

 

It's sci-fi!  That's part of the fun.  

 

At least the med bays are not restricted by sex(Prometheus!!!)

[RobinHood26]

-

Edited May 8, 2018 by Jay Hollywood

[fishstick]

 

 

Minuses: generally speaking, for me, whenever a movie uses children/wives, let alone sick children/wives, to move a plot along and give the hero something to care about, I dunno, it just seems a bit hamfisted,manipulative, and forced.

 

This. Main problem with adding kids or family (I'm looking at you WWZ) is that audience doesn't care for those characters precisely because they are just a lazy way to make the hero relatable. Audience feels it and thus hates scenes with them. However, the trick is to make audience care for them in order for movie to work. Example:Newt in Aliens. She worked and the movie worked because the audience cared for her. OTOH, Pitt's family in WWZ is an A grade exmaple of a lazy way to give his character a caring dimension. They are in the movie to give him characterisation instead of having engaging characters themselves. I pretty much expect that to be the problem with Elysium's sick girl - a cypher created only to make Damon character more caring and relatable.

[Ozymandias]

Fucking dismal movie, I wasn't expecting another masterpiece like District 9, but this was just awful.

 

Horrible and awkward pacing/editing from start to finish, obnoxious shaky cam(couldn't see what the fuck was going on half the time during action), unforgivably bad acting from Jodie Foster, a villain that is pure unintentional comedy, hilariously forced and extreme politics, bland performances and 1 dimensionally written characters, etc(I could go on and on)... Just a terribly blunt, and ultimately boring movie.  I'm honestly surprised this is fresh on RT.

 

Right after Kruger died, I just got up and left for a cigarette, I just simply didn't give a shit and neither did anyone I was with and they came with me.  This is the first movie I walked out of since Clash of the Titans.

 

I'm gonna enjoy watching this one tank.

 

F

Edited August 10, 2013 by Shpongle

[Ezen Baklattan]

I'll give them credit that the political commentary isn't as heavy overall as I thought it was going to be (though some scenes really do push this notion) and Blomkamp proves himself to create brilliant and convincing visual effects at a fraction of the budget of several sci-fi tentpoles. He's also pretty good at creating gritty atmospheres fused with sci-fi elements, as District 9 and now Elysium have proven. There were also a few great "Holy shit" moments, like in District 9.

 

That's as far as I can go defending this. Everything else was either just mediocre or flat out terrible. Damon has some personality here, but I really didn't feel for him as much as I was hoping, and the girl/child are just living plot devices. Jodie Foster is unbelievably bland and one dimensional, while Copley essentially chews scenery. I'll give them that it wasn't all their fault. The script in this was pretty terrible. And that's a really good segway.

 

The script is not just cliche ridden and predictable near the end, but it becomes increasingly messy as the film progresses. Many moments had me thinking "What the f#@k is going on?!" Blomkamp is clearly a stronger director than he is a writer. There's some good stuff in here, but it's buried in a script full of mediocrity and actors that can't save it. Maybe my expectations were too high (I loved District 9) but this should have been a hell of a lot better.

 

C/C+

[vc2002]

So this turns out to be a HUGE letdown even to some of the biggest Neill Blomkamp supporters on this site. This is not looking good. WOM could be very poor.

[RobinHood26]

-

Edited May 8, 2018 by Jay Hollywood

[ThatMovieGuy]

Neill Blomkamp wrote and directed District 9, the movie was a fresh take for the sci-fi genre starting off like a news program or documentary, giving us a realistic feel that this could possibly happen in our world. Other then that the film follows a similar  to Hollywood formula that most likely the film Elysium follows, haven't seen it yet but I will one day( most likely) but I don't think it will be worth me buying a ticket to see anytime soon. Next movie I'm going to see is Kick ass 2 and that's because I'm a straight up comic book geek and not because I see that it's got potential to be a good movie, just a decent one. 

[ssjrem]

I'd give it a B. Definitely a bit of a letdown from District 9, but it had some great visuals, and I really liked Matt Damon in the lead role. But Sharlto Copley just stole the show. I never would've expected he'd make such a good villain.

[The Stingray]

7/10. Good, not great. Too fast, no time to breathe, to let shit sink in. And way too much sentimental BS.

[The Stingray]

And yeah, I couldn't understand what Jodie Foster was trying to do.

[Cmasterclay]

First 30 minutes and last 10 minutes are really great- excellent world building, good characters, good acting. Everything in between is rushed, loud, and way too chase sceney. A good movie that had the potential to be a truly great one but rushed through it.

[mattmav45]

Count me among those in the disappointment camp.The biggest issue for me was the attempted emotional foundation with the childhood friend and her daughter never really works. It feels tacked on and never really works within the main storyline. As a result, the epic tone and music comes across as hammy and bland.That isn't to say it's all awful. Blomkamp knows how to film action, and Sharkto Copley provides a memorable performance. It's just too bad that he had the only noteworthy performance in the film, as everyone else was simply flat to me.This is a case of the past coming back to haunt Blomkamp. Following up an inventive sci-fi gem with a safe and somewhat contrived plot can only lead to disappointment. However, this is still a talented director. While he may have gone of the trail a little with Elysium, the promise remains for the future.C+

[Water Bottle]

C

 

Good action scenes helps save this movie...

 

(1) The dialogue was hard to understand at a lot of moments. This was for almost all of the characters at least one point in the film.

(2) The movie should have stuck with one political message and stuck with it: illegal immigration or universal health care. Trying to tackle both of them really stretched it's thematic core to it's limits and damaged it's ability to pay off the emotional beats between Max and his friend. Also, the political message of this movie literally makes zero sense when you realize how impractical or absurd the solutions are in the world of Elysium and in our world.

(3) Why was Jodie Foster in this movie? I mean, honestly, her role should have been given to someone with a little less name recognition considering how she's only a minor villain.

(4) The character beats all felt forced. The flashbacks were too cheesy to really work.

 

Overall, a science fiction film that simply tried so hard to have a message that it didn't really have one and it led to everything but the action falling apart.

[The Stingray]

Oh, and security on Elysium really sucks.

[Ezen Baklattan]

An unauthorized ship is trying to get to Elysium? Let's have someone on Earth fire missles at it, even though it's clearly closer to Elysium!

[Jack Nevada]

An unauthorized ship is trying to get to Elysium? Let's have someone on Earth fire missles at it, even though it's clearly closer to Elysium!

I know right? That was one of the stupidest things I've seen at the movies this year. 

[RobinHood26]

I know right? That was one of the stupidest things I've seen at the movies this year. 

She didnt have the authority to do so... so she had her asset on earth do it. Strange I agree, but at least it makes sense plot wise.