Saw this a couple weks ago on Blu Ray and forgot to write something up.  I was suprised no one else has either.

In a nutshell, IMO, this was God Damned Awful on every level except for the look of it.  Neil Blomkamp has shown he has quite the eye for our potential ugly future and I was a big fan of District 9, but this just misses the mark so badly.

The story, if you want to call it that, is so weak.  The writing, plotting, and action is dull and unbeleivable.  The acting is groan inducing, especially a cliche and cardboard Jodie Foster.  Shocking how poor it is.

On a positive note, I love the premise, but they fucked that all up in a throwaway story full of throwaway cardboard characters, and inane action, all culminating exactly like we knew it would.

Very, very disappointing.

Grade - D

I agree Elysium was a big disappointment. As far as plot goes, it might as well be District 9 one and a half

I liked some of it, but what it came down to is uneeded over-preaching. Set in the future, another tale of the Haves vs The Have Nots. Very specific plot points involves the medical care units that can heal injuries and diseases in a few minutes or less, and that the Elysium colony has a self made eco system. Robots keep a Gestapo-like order on Earth on the lower class. The lower class is subject to cheap and dangrous labor with hardly any risk pay.

And I highlighted in blue plot points which when matched up to the plot point in red...makes no sense whatsoever. It flies in the face of the logic of the rules set up by this future world. Why have cheap labor if you can make robots of mass production? Why not have those medical units available to those who work in dangerous working enviornments? In the short and the long term, the "Elite 1%" would be losing money

I don't mind a plot hole here or there, but the premise alone is a "story" hole. Then there's being a lot like Blomkamp's previous film, whose social commentary was more focused as opposed to being all over the place.. That's two strikes against it. The third strike is cliches and the final blow is having good actors phoning it in or appearing to do just that.

Quoted from Dreamscale ...forgot to write something up.  I was suprised no one else has either.

I'm not cos' anyone who has seen this atrocious piece of shit would wanna forget about it immediately.

Yeah, this one sucked for all the reasons mentioned above. I'm so done with Blomkamp, he's yet to make a movie that has even remotely entertained me - including District 9 with its overly contrived plot.

I agree with everyone here that this was a bad movie.

Elysium was the most beautiful cinematic turd of 2013.

The CGI and cinematography were so astounding, they made all the previews look like an amalgam of Halo and District 9.

However, the acting (excluding Matt Damon) and story were so horrid that they made the movie the visual equivalent of being punched in the face with shit knuckles.

Let me see if I remember the plot correctly:

::SPOILERS::
Boy meets girl.
Boy gets irradiated.
Boy becomes 150 dollar man.
Boy goes all, Johnny Mnemonic.
Bad guys, explosions, yelling.  (repeat as necessary)
Boy presses button.
Boy dies.
Girl cries.
Roll credits.
::END SPOILERS::

It's a shame that all those CGI hours were wasted on this movie.

Jordan

The best bit was the facial reconstruction.

^ Yeah! And I liked when his face got blown off in the first place.

Possibly because sitting through this dull-ass clownshow made we wish someone would throw a grenade at me, too.

Blomkamp's problem is that he rates theme over story, and he can't help force feeding it to the audience. When a director does that, it's usually a tell tale sign that the story is some weak ass generic shit that wouldn't hold up to even the slightest bit of scrutiny. Elysium and District 9 are perfect examples on how not to make movies.

Here's a free advice, Neil...FUCK THE THEME - just tell a good story, and if the story is told well enough, the theme will become apparent all by itself. Now can I have my money back, you overrated cunt?

May I say, though...

Quoted from DarrenJamesSeeley It flies in the face of the logic of the rules set up by this future world. Why have cheap labor if you can make robots of mass production? Why not have those medical units available to those who work in dangerous working enviornments?

Isn't this exactly the system we have now? :)

Well, I seem somewhat alone in liking quite a bit of Elysium. No doubt some scenes were, erm, a little off. But I've seen a lot worse.

Wow, can't believe this is being dragged through the mud like it is. I liked it. There's certainly more thought put into it than your average 100mil movie.

The tension is palpable... Damon gets radiated and has to race against time to reach Elysium. Then Neil ups the ante by dropping the girlfriend and daughter into the mix.

It certainly wasn't as creative as Distrct 9, but still a solid film IMO. Think you all woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

James

And the opening sequences were worth the price of admission... I reckon.

Quoted from jwent6688 ...Neil ups the ante by dropping the girlfriend and daughter into the mix.

That's the biggest problem I had with the movie.  The girlfriend and daughter were just dropped in to fill the quota for female love interest.  The relationship between Max and Frey wasn't developed enough, leaving me feeling that it was tacked on as a plot device.

Individually the scenes were entertaining, but combined they create something lesser than the sum of its parts.

Jordan

Quoted from Nomad That's the biggest problem I had with the movie.  The girlfriend and daughter were just dropped in to fill the quota for female love interest.  The relationship between Max and Frey wasn't developed enough, leaving me feeling that it was tacked on as a plot device. Individually the scenes were entertaining, but combined they create something lesser than the sum of its parts. Jordan

Disagree. It was part of his character arc. He walks out on them at first only to make the child's recovery more important than his own later on. I thought it was well established, but it's just my opinion.

James

Quoted from jwent6688 Disagree. It was part of his character arc. He walks out on them at first only to make the child's recovery more important than his own later on. I thought it was well established, but it's just my opinion.

Character arc, smaracter arc...fuck these stupid character arcs everyone seems to think are so important.  They aren't.

As Sniper correctly stated, tell a good story and your theme and character arcs will take care of themselves.

James, your opinion doesn't count, bro!   ;D ;D ;D  HA!  Just kidding, Cleveland...

Ha ha. I'm used to my opinion not amounting to much. I was impressed that Agent Krueger was the same nerdy dweeb we followed in District 9. I couldn't even recognize him.

James

Quoted from jwent6688 I was impressed that Agent Krueger was the same nerdy dweeb we followed in District 9. I couldn't even recognize him.

This we agree on.  Kruger was a great villain.  Sharlto Copley gave him just the right amount of ruthless twisted psychopath.

Jordan

I thought Copley wasn't very good in this movie. When I think about it, I only liked him in D9.