Elysium

[nelsonmuntz]

I watched this movie 2 days ago, and can't make up my mind whether it is good or sucks, or is somewhere in between. The movie did OK domestically, but did very well overseas and grossed over $300MM in total which is a solid performance. Based on the trailer, it had potential, with an interesting premise and a good beginning to the plot. The cast was good on paper too. There are some plot continuity issues, but there always are with science fiction and until near the end, nothing happened in the movie that didn't make sense.

That said, I didn't love the movie. Matt Damon put in a solid performance, but Jodie Foster spoke in a bizarre accent that seemed to come and go throughout the film. I think she was cast right for the role, but the accent was distracting and I would say this is probably the worst performance I have ever seen by her. Fichtner is perfect for the role he was cast in, but Sharlto Copley needed to dial it back a bit. The rest of the supporting cast was a little too 2 dimensional. My biggest issue was that the fight scenes were too long and cartoonish. I am OK with movie violence, but it shouldn't seem like fun. Looper, which I thought was an excellent science fiction movie, has a lot of violence but it is visceral and scary. In Elysium, Copley and Damon wail away at each other for several minutes in two different scenes with relatively modest consequences, which causes the film to drift from intelligent science fiction into a Michael Bay movie. I give it a B-.

 

[ZooCougar]

It was basically a movie about Matt Damon going to outer space to establish Obamacare. At least it seemed like it would work out in that movie.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It was basically a movie about Matt Damon going to outer space to establish Obamacare. At least it seemed like it would work out in that movie.

There was a broader class issue than just establishing Obamacare in space. Most sci fi movies have some version of a future with a permanent class structure, so if that bothers you, it would seem that the whole genre is out.

 

[ZooCougar]

There was a broader class issue than just establishing Obamacare in space. Most sci fi movies have some version of a future with a permanent class structure, so if that bothers you, it would seem that the whole genre is out.

It's pretty much my favorite genre. It didn't bother me, but the premise was a little too obvious.

 

[SubbaBub]

Seemed like half a film. I didn't care about Damon's character, his rebel friends hanging out at what looked like an old burned out Terminator set.

And for the life of me couldn't buy the idea that a technological marvel like that couldn't blow up a flying winnebago before it cleared the atmosphere at will.

Also, the virus reboot concept is again stupid if you believe they can restructure DNA to heal people.

If not for the quality cast (Sharlto Copley) it's a not even a watchable B movie.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Seemed like half a film. I didn't care about Damon's character, his rebel friends hanging out at what looked like an old burned out Terminator set.

And for the life of me couldn't buy the idea that a technological marvel like that couldn't blow up a flying winnebago before it cleared the atmosphere at will.

Also, the virus reboot concept is again stupid if you believe they can restructure DNA to heal people.

If not for the quality cast (Sharlto Copley) it's a not even a watchable B movie.

You could say some of the same things about Star Wars. A bunch of hippies blew up the Death Star. Twice. That said, if Carlyle and Delacourt could take over that easily, they would have already done it.

They answer that to some extent in that DeLaCourt (Foster) has some rules she has to play by in terms of killing people from the main planet. But then she fires and the immediately rehires the Copley character, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

My problem was that it was too much of a shoot-em-up and not enough plot. There is no valid reason to mimic Michael Bay.