They Did It Wrong

Rating: 5/10 (25 August 2013)

(This review doesn't have any big spoilers but I'd put the warning just in case.)
I was really looking forward to this movie. I was looking forward to a movie that was like "In Time", a movie where an oppressed regular man in a dystopian future would crash the rich people's party and explore the contrast in their way of life. But instead I was "treated" to a movie with an uncompelling central plot and mediocre direction.
Instead the movie revolves around the fact that the rich people in Elysium have these instant-healing devices, while the poor people on earth have only overcrowded hospitals with limited resources. The only value of this movie is that it captures the zeitgeist of America, where healthcare is a contentious issue, and the common people routinely have no access to care.
But the movie does a poor job of entertaining the audience. It doesn't explore any of the social issues, or do any of the things you would hope a movie like this would do. You don't really get to see how rich people on Elysium live besides a few short scenes in passing where you see them lounging around in mansions and swimming pools. Instead most of the movie takes place in the dreary setting of semi-post-apocalyptic earth.
So that's it... I won't spoil it, I'll just the say the hero spends the movie trying to get a sick character or two to one of those healing devices, and in the process accidentally stumbles upon a way to bring down the divide between the haves-and-the-have-nots. It's a completely unbelievable way to bring down the divide, which in real life would be undone in minutes. The movie meanders through some mind-numbing action sequences that drag on and on. Halfway through the movie I started wondering "is it over yet"? And my friend was willing to just walk out.
Some of the acting was bad too. There's the character "Spider" who is always whispering. I guess it was supposed to make him sound cool and tough, but actually it makes him sound like he has a breathing problem. He is completely unconvincing as some powerful criminal type who supposedly gets things done. He seems like an actor more likely to be cast as a bumbling stoner henchman. Krueger, an Elysium henchman working on the Elysiumites side also has an annoying accent.
It had some sort-of cool robots and weapons, that was the only halfway memorable thing about this movie.