I wish Blomkamp would just make District 10

Rating: 6/10 (8 September 2014)

In 2009 new director Neill Blomkamp started off his feature career with an astounding bang with the Peter Jackson backed District 9. This was one of the freshest and most original science fiction stories to be released in a long time so, naturally, big things were expected when Blomkamp got the opportunity to up his budget and fill his cast with A-listers like Matt Damon and Jodie Foster big things were expected. Unfortunately this was a lot of hype to live up to and Elysium falls just short of being another fantastic original sci-fi film.
Set in the year 2154, Elysium tells the story of a dystopian society where the wealth gap has become quite literal, with the rich elites of the world living lives of luxury on their space station Elysium which orbits a ravaged and overpopulated Earth and looks awfully similar to the Halo ring world from the video game franchise, something Blomkamp was at one time attached to for a film adaptation. Obviously he still wants to make that a reality. Anyways, Matt Damon plays Max, a factory worker on Earth who gets the opportunity to go to Elysium where he may be able to equalize the two polarizing societies. But along the way he runs into killer robots, katana wielding assassins, and a slew of crazy sci-fi action-packed obstacles.
Elysium has all of the ingredients to be another District 9 sci-fi revolution. It's got an interesting concept, albeit one that has become increasingly common, surrounding social and wealth inequality. This inequality is a little in your face and a little too obvious, but the contrast between Elysium and Earth definitely gets the point across. It's got the budget to carry the epic visuals and make Elysium look truly badass.
This is a beautiful film with landscapes that are absolutely stunning. The designs of the two separate worlds are both gorgeous in their own ways. The designs of the characters, costumes, vehicles, and weapons are all reminiscent of the dirty rusty look of District 9. If nothing else Elysium is a major accomplishment on a visual level and I give major props to the filmmakers for building this fascinatingly original world.
I really enjoyed most of Elysium. The visual flare of the film never ceases to amaze, and it grows increasingly cooler as more and more elements get introduced to the story. The film's one big fault is that key word, "story." Where District 9 was a multi-layered story told in a unique and compelling pseudo-documentary style, Elysium is a traditional straight-forward narrative that doesn't go much deeper than Earth people wanting to be on Elysium and Elysians not wanting Earth people on their world for the obvious reasons. The characters are fun and exciting, but not particularly compelling. The storyline itself is similar as well. It's a lot of fun, but I think this film wants to be taken a lot more seriously than its tone and content merits.
Elysium is worth the watch for its beauty and glamour, and the onslaught of explosive sci-fi action. Overall it's a really underwhelming film though, and its melodramatic ending is worth nothing more than an eye roll. I like to think that the studio is to blame for the pitfalls of this movie, and that District 9 wasn't just luck, but I don't know for sure. I guess we'll just have to wait for Blomkamp's next flick, 2015's Chappie.