Not as cerebral as it thinks it is

Rating: Null/10 (8 March 2015)

After the entertaining "District 9", I looked forward to seeing Neil Blomkamp's next movie, this one. But the disappointment I sensed from critics and audiences made me put off seeing it until today when I had the chance to see it for free. After watching it, I can kind of understand why a lot of viewers felt let down. Although it promises to be a more cerebral sci-fi adventure, there were a number of parts in that didn't feel written enough. The biggest disappointment is with the Elysium space station itself. We learn it's full of "haves" who have retreated from the "have nots", and that they have machines that give great healing power, but that's IT. We don't learn anything about the citizens, how their government is run, or a number of other issues that could have been interesting to see.
I'm not saying that this is a terrible movie. It's never boring, there are some exciting action sequences (though also some that are hard to follow), and the special effects are very good. Still, watching the movie I often felt there was a lost opportunity to really explore some interesting ideas. In the end, this is a movie to hold off watching until you are in an undemanding mood.