This story was terrible, but the effects were a little cool.

Rating: 4/10 (8 August 2013)

So bad. They don't make you care about ANY of the characters and the storytelling is awful. You barely get to see Elysium, it's just like 3 guys in sweaters in a country club drinking champagne for like 5 seconds, and there's a little bit of grass and a few trees. Like really? That didn't even look that cool. **Spoiler I guess** Matt Damon is dying the whole movie from some exposure to radiation, and that is the only reason he is trying to go to Elysium. They should have at least made that little girl his secret daughter or something, so that you could actually care about him saving her. Her mongoose and hippo story was painful to watch, even thought it was the only time Matt Damon and the little girl actually interacted. Kruger (the main villain) was okay I guess. He had a cool accent and beard, but he wasn't that tough or threatening though.
It was just some Mexican people on post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, with no health care and dirty clothes, and Matt Damon dying for a few days. Then he gets some tech-suit that makes him a tiny bit stronger and he punches like one guy and then nothing happens. They should show people on Elysium freaking out and worrying about people from Earth coming. The people on Elysium did nothing except swim in a pool and sit on a chair.
The only cool thing on Elysium was that bed that healed people. I mean couldn't they have a little more cool futuristic stuff? Touchscreens? Cool shirts or sunglasses? More sci-fi stuff. I mean it is the year 2154, I would think technology would be a lot more advanced. Jodie Foster's control room had like CRT monitors it was so bad. The robot animations and models were well done though.
The story and characters weren't developed at all, and there was barely any action. I haven't seen District 9, but there's no way it can be as bad as this. I really wanted to like it, because the trailer and concept looked awesome. I usually like Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Diego Luna and their acting was fine, but this movie could have been so much better if they fixed the story. I felt like Matt Damon didn't really give a crap about helping all the people on Earth, and he never even made out with the hot chick...
I love the concept surrounding the themes about health care, wealth inequality, social status and immigration, but nothing really tied it all together or developed these themes and this is what was missing. That's what this movie should be about, not some guy who is dying and doesn't want to die. It should have been about resistance, and inspire you to want to make a difference in the way we currently live.