Elysium

Elysium, science fiction flick starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster was on my list to watch during the holidays – I'll say right off that I was disappointed. I like science fiction movies and this was the second big budget film done by South African-born short film director Neill Blomkamp – he did District 9 a few years ago, so I had high expectations for this movie. The premise of the film was solid enough – Earth in the year 2159 is devastated by disease, poverty, etc. The Wealthy and powerful have moved to an orbiting city called Elysium. Matt Damon is exposed to lethal dose of radiation while at work, so he wants to go to the city to be healed by some high-tech atomizer that can regenerate the human body's many diseases and faults. Jodie Foster, the chief security officer of the space city is there to stop him. Of course, on the way Matt manages to save a young girl with leukemia, whose mother just happens to be his childhood girlfriend. In the end, our hero gives his life to save the girl and the entire human race... Sorry no Spoiler Alert, actually there's none needed because the execution of the story is so predictable and poorly conceived that we know from the beginning what's going to happen at the end. So what's not to like? The special effects were decent, but leftovers from District 9. There was nothing new. The props, the robots, and some of the city footage came directly from District 9. Even the space station looked like a cardboard set from a 1980's Star Trek episode. The camera work Neill Blomkamp is famous for seemed to be absent – at least I was not impressed at all with the visual aspects of the film. The bad guys were stupid... And also Jodie Foster's considerable acting skill was not visible. Then there was Matt Damon – he played the same character he always does...boring... So, my advice is, don't bother renting this film, instead rent District 9 – a much better choice.