Unimaginative and boring

Rating: Null/10 (10 June 2014)

The very premise and idea of Elysium is non-original and stale. It's your basic dystopian future where the rich have raised high walls using high-end technology to keep the poor out and it's up to a single brave soul to make the difference. We've seen this millions times before and unfortunately Elysium doesn't really offer us anything new or exciting to make up for its basic storyline.
The other problem are the actors. Jodie Foster is a great actress, but the script doesn't give her much to work with and her character comes of as stereotypical power hungry military politician. Sharlto Copley's Kruger is certainly a memorable character, helped along by his weird accent and general hamminess - easily the most enjoyable character in the movie. But alas, Matt Damon once again proves that he isn't all that well-suited for action hero roles. He does much better in thrillers - Bourne franchise springs to mind - where the main character can be more of a everyman with certain badass characteristics. A straight up scifi action film like Elysium needs someone like Stallone or Schwarzenegger to be truly enjoyable. Someone who screams badassery and danger. You don't get that with Damon, no matter how bald or ripped he makes himself to appear.
Still, none of the main actors are terrible or ruin the film by themselves. Ultimately it's the lackluster premise and predictable storyline that make this so boring to watch. And yet the technical aspects are up to par, I have no complaints about the action scenes and even the characters and the story are not bad, they're not just that interesting. If you're looking for a solid action scifi film, I've seen much worse.