All Style, But Little Substance

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2018)

Elysium is a decent movie, but it could have been much better. Elysium is directed by Neill Blomkamp, the same person who directed District 9. I personally thought that Elysium was a bit of a step down from District 9. It has great effects, good action, and a great main villain. However, the characters besides the villain I thought were a bit bland and the acting felt phoned in sometimes. Plus I did not find the film very enjoyable, at least until the final act.
The effects for the film are great. The effects here are on par with District 9. The film has a very similar look to it as District 9, which is not surprising since it is the same director. I like all the technology employed here. The action scenes are good particularly the fight between Matt Damon's character and the villain played by Sharlto Copley. The score was decent as well.
The villain, Kruger, is a great villain. Sharlto Copley proves that he has great range as an actor. He seemed like one of the only characters that had any energy or passion. He is definitely the best part of the film.
However, the film has many issues. The main characters, sad to say, were not very memorable. Matt Damon is okay in the role. However, the problem is that he is just okay. There is nothing that stands out in his performance, and there is no energy to it a lot of the time. I think that anybody could have played Damon's role. His character is more realistic and I did buy his plight, but I just did not find him very engaging. Alice Braga and the little girl were quite bland as well.
Jody Foster plays the secondary villain of the movie. Foster does fin performance wise but I found her character very one-dimensional. She is not even a very fun villain like Copley is in this. William Fichtner is also in the film. However, he really has a nothing role and his character gets killed halfway through the film. He is basically just a plot device. Any actor could have that role.
Another big issue I have with the film is the obvious message. This film tries to hammer home the message of "don't pollute the environment." It is a good but, like with Avatar, we have seen this message being conveyed in tons of other movies. I do not mind films having big messages, but I'd wish they would find a new way of telling it. I've seen the same message conveyed better in films like Wall-E, which is very similar to Elysium.
On top of all that the film is not that enjoyable to watch, in my opinion. It is not a bad film. It is actually a pretty decent movie. However, it is not a film I would re-watch. I have the same problem with District 9. District 9 is a good movie, but it is not something I would watch again. I think it mostly has to do with the look of the look of both films. Both movies have a very bleak and dirty look to them. The world that is depicted in these two films is not very fun to look at. I understand that that was the point, but I still do not care for the look of these films. It is too depressing for my taste.
Overall, Elysium is a decent film and is worth at least one viewing. I also think it is worth seeing in theatres if you have the chance, but I would see at matinee price.