Hola!
I'm here to review Elysium, the new movie by Neil Blompkamp.
Let's rewind to a few years ago when District 9 was in theatres. I was younger, more handsome, and seeing Elysium with some cutie. We sat front row, so close that I had to crane my neck up. If it was anything but a movie, I'd look stupid.
Regardless, I liked the themes of District 9. It dealt with themes such as racism, and taught us all a valuable lesson. As my Dad also loves to point out, it was the movie with an alien wearing a pink bra. Sexy!
Blompkamp has brought us another socio-political action-thriller. With Matt Damon as Robocop 2.0, Jodie Foster as Hillary Clinton, and Sharlto Copley as the homeless guy who's sleeping in my shed.
This time, it has a bit more refined of a story. I liked District 9, but I felt like it focused almost too much on the main character, and didn't really bother to show us much else. Elysium definitely trumps District 9 in this regard. We see main character Max, try to cure himself of cancer. It's a basic story of the rich holding onto the technology required to cure people. We get a glimpse of this early on when a ragtag group of people on Earth travel to Elysium to cure a girl of some fractures.
Through this simple story, we get an amazing action movie. It's good action and good cinematography but with a great script. My only real problem with the script are the lines. Despite having some great actors and actresses in this movie, I did find that the lines themselves were a bit dull and uninspired. Not a fault of the actors either. It's just a script that plays it too close to chest.
The one exception is Copley's Kruger; who literally steals the scenes. It's as if the script favors Kruger in a funny way as his lines and mannerisms are near perfect. The 'Facial Reconstruction' scene was pretty cool.
William Fitchner was surprisingly in this movie. I didn't know he was. He's a great actor, and even though his role is small it is a good one nonetheless. The part where he's talking to the Foreman about Max's accident solidified it for me.
The ending was good, but predictable. I liked how District 9 ended because you didn't see it coming really. To go to Elysium where you can see the ending coming from the get-go, it didn't make the movie a worse movie because of it but it was just a mild disappointment. The poster even said "HE CAN SAVE US ALL" *rolls eyes*
Would I Reccomend It? Yes
How Does It Compare?
District 9
Better overall story. More action. Hits similar beats, and Elysium has the weaker ending which is pretty important in a movie like this.
Robocop
Robocop had better one-liners.
Cyborg
Less Jean-Cluade Van Damme. Which actually hurts Elysium.
Short Circut
Short Circut actually has humor in it; whilst Elysium has, well...none.