A visually polished but bland sci-fi tale.

Rating: 6/10 (20 September 2014)

This is one of those films that almost gets there, but consistently falls short all the way through.
It's hard to put your finger on what it really is about this film that isn't quite right. The acting is decent, the visuals are fine - and on some occasions very impressive, and the story is sort of interesting. But none of it really feels convincing.
The film tries to do too many things at once and therefore doesn't quite hit home in any specific area. There are several significant story arcs here.
Firstly you have the relationship between the protagonist (Damon) and his childhood sweetheart. There is a little bit of time devoted to this relationship but it ultimately comes across as very superficial indeed. This relationship binds the main characters together to some extent but you never quite feel that there is any chemistry between the two. We never really end up caring about either of them, or their "bond".
Secondly you have the interesting spacecraft "Elysium" orbiting above Earth. This should really have been explored much more deeply. There are lots of ideas here that are relevant to modern life and the disparity of wealth that we have in the world. The "haves" and the "have nots". You have parallels with issues of immigration where people will take any risk for a better life. You have the wilful separation of those with money and those without, and the draconian enforcement of law for the masses through an automated and touchy group of robot law enforcement machines. But all of this stuff just ends up becoming a flimsy background to the next bit...
And that is of course the devious computer programme designed to help the failing business of... some guy, by installing a new person in charge of the Elysium space craft. It's just a bit silly and hard to buy into yet this issue is what it all revolves around.
Prior to watching this, I did not know that this was made by the team behind District 9. I thought that was a great film, and it really did strike home. I think the major difference is that this film takes itself a little bit too seriously, has almost no humour, and doesn't convincingly tackle the themes it addresses in a meaningful way.
A fairly pedestrian film, which is surprising given the cast. I wouldn't really recommend this but would also avoid saying it's bad.