Close to being a great movie, but it lacks creative plot

Rating: 5/10 (30 August 2013)

Once again, like with "District 9", Neill Blomkamp's work amazed but also disappointed me. When I saw District 9, although I loved it, I felt that the concept of the movie had much more potential than what it delivered. That was even more intense in Elysium. In both movies, the main idea was so original, but it feels like in Elysium, Blomkamp rested on that and didn't provide us with an equivalent plot. The plot looked superficial and not at all detailed.
The story was very simplistic and stayed pretty much on the surface instead of getting deeper into the socio-political issues that were brought up. The audience didn't have the chance to get to know the different societies and the links between them, or the structure of the system. Nor did we get a wider glimpse of Earth, besides the slum city Max (Matt Damon)was living in. Also, towards the ending, the whole movie gets a little bit flat.
The direction of the movie is absolutely brilliant. Nicely done scenes, and full of the director's personal style. First with District 9 and now with Elysium, Neill Blomkamp reveals himself as a great new director. He comes up with great ideas, he doesn't give us the usual Hollywood sci-fi movie but something more. He's very original, very avant-garde, I am actually pretty excited to see his next piece of work.
Elysium exceeds the expectations based on its trailer, but if you are a District 9 fan, I must say, you will probably find Elysium inferior. But still, it is a good film. For me, it starts very strong and then loses it, but i overall enjoyed it.