So before seeing this movie, I always make the mistake of poking in other reviews of movies I’m interested. This one being no exception, and the reviews had been 50/50. But the opinion of this movie-going fanatic, Elysium was FANTASTIC! If you enjoyed director, Neil Blomkamp’s last movie, District-9, I really think you’ll have a hard time not enjoying this film.
Elysium featured all the action, effects, and emotional investments District-9 pulled from me, but on a much grander scale. And it was a sight to behold (see it in IMAX, or AMC ETX, if you can).
My only complaint was the opening. There was this opening text blurb. One can only assume, serving as some sort of prologue or introduction to the world. Basically what was covered over the course of two screens of copy, was covered in 2 seconds of any trailer or TV spot.
Poor live on Earth. The rich live on Elysium.
It just seemed like something that could’ve been filmed to communicate that block of script. And not have it be something that needed be read like that. Like that’s somekind of brief you needed to “get” the movie.
Sorry to harp on this one point, but it really felt condescending to be presented with that. In an entertainment landscape of mindless reality television, crap films like Grown-Ups 2, and studio executives like Harvey Weinstein wanting to further edit films because he thinks the public is too dumb to get it… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Further, I also wouldn’t be surprised if the inclusion of that prologue was a studio mandate, and not a creative one. I mean, I get that sci-fi is a hard sell to the movie going public… but just still a little insulting.
Come on Hollywood, give your consumer base a little credit!
But short of that, I thought Elysium was a great movie. But if you’re unfamiliar with the story, here’s a quick synopsis from Fandango:
In a future in which the privileged reside on an Earth-orbiting space station named Elysium and the less fortunate live on the surface of the blighted, overpopulated planet below, one man dares to defy the strict anti-immigration laws that separate the two disparate worlds in order to save all of mankind in this visceral sci-fi action thriller from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp.
In a nutshell, Neill Blomkamp paints an amazing world. You can’t help but be a little invested in Matt Damon. Jodi Foster is a haunting bitch. And Sharlto Copley is wonderfully, and a little creepily terrifying in the movie as well.
So if you’re looking for a sci-fi, action packed, entertaining good time. Go and check this one out.