Enjoyable plot, transparent characters

Rating: 5/10 (14 August 2013)

Going into this movie I thought it would be an interesting tale, and it was. I enjoyed the plot and Neill Blomkamp's vision of the 22nd century was an interesting, appropriately pessimistic take on what consequences our actions will have on future generations. Sharlto Copley is fantastic as the ambitious and insane Agent Kruger. However, where this movie lacks is where Blomkamp's District 9 excelled: Character development of the protagonist. While the development of Wikus van de Merwe of District 9 is a riveting adventure, Max Da Costa's development, or lack thereof, is rather dull. At the start of the movie, Max is primarily concerned with himself and his safety, and it is later established after his industrial accident that he suffers from a severe fear of death. Max's sole mission is getting to Elysium; despite his friend Frey's daughter also needing to get to Elysium, Max only cares about himself. Later, he helps them escape Kruger's men after the airship crashes on Elysium, and suddenly it felt like he was about to develop more into a hero. At the conclusion of the movie where the computer program used to reboot Elysium is extracted from Max's head and he dies, he does not accept his fate but goes through with it anyway. Frey and Matilda are not on his mine; The fact that he will die is all he is thinking about during the entire process. While that is believable, it is not interesting as Max has basically remained the same person throughout the entire movie.
While the plot is interesting, the characters, particularly Max are unoriginal and hollow.
The other thing I must cover is the narrow vision of Earth during the movie. The entirety of Earth is depicted as essentially Los Angeles, which just does not seem like it would ever happen.
Overall, the most fun I had in this movie was watching Copley as Kruger. Kruger was far more interesting than Secretary Delacourt, who was played up to be the main antagonist in much of the promotional material. But, a movie should be more than a ruthless villain; The hero needs to be interested too. While District 9 had Wikus van de Merwe, also played by Copley, Elysium has Max Da Costa. Wikus clearly wins the battle here.