District 9 was better

Rating: 6/10 (25 November 2014)

While watching ELYSIUM I kept thinking I've seen this movie before. The look, the feel all seemed familiar. I then realized that this movie was written and directed by Neil Blomkamp who gave us DISTRICT 9 a few years back.
DISTRICT 9 was better.
This is a pretty by-the-book sci-fi action thriller. We have the haves vs. the have nots. A reluctant hero, Matt Damon, must rise up from his impoverished life to give birth to a revolution for the common man over the privileged few.
There was some interesting ideas here, not the least of which was Damon's ecto-skeleton suit. This could have been a super-hero origin story, instead it degrades into a standard shoot-em-up where the reluctant hero must save the sick daughter of his childhood love or die trying.
Stop me if you've seen this movie before.
This is the 2nd movie this weekend that I was disappointed in what Sharlto Copley was doing. He needs to find a director that can tap into the potential that was shown in District 9. Diego Luna was over-the- top "cartoony" as the lead rebel while Alice Braga was bland as the love interest. I don't even know what Jodie Foster was doing in this picture (I sure don't know what her accent was). I just hope that she is enjoying the vacation home that the funds from this movie must surely fund.
Only the ever-fascinating William Fichtner held my attention whilst on the the screen - and he was on all too briefly.
6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis).