Expected so much more

Rating: 5/10 (30 November 2013)

It is as if Neill Blomkamp, inspired by the (baffling) success of District 9, got hold of SciFi Movie 101 and started ticking off the oh-so-predictable recipe items required for such a movie. The two big Hollywood names (Damon and Foster) could not mask the atrociously thin storyline and mindless action / violence scenes. The plastic character of Kruger (the one with the ludicrously phony accent, spitting out over-used one-liners) did not provide any pain relief either.
The story is then wrapped up in sugary soap-opera type ending, so simplistic and dripping with syrup, it almost makes you cry (of frustration). There is no depth to this movie, just characters going through the motions in a gritty environment. Foster basically just had to say her lines, the script was that undemanding. Damon did his best not to come across as the new Robocop. He failed.
A brave SciFi interpretation of the classic those-who-have-and-those-who-don't type of story - the righteous oppressed vs. the evil privileged view. Mixed with some action scenes and very good visuals and CGi - enough to make the movie predictable and not enough to make it memorable.