I read several reviews of this movie before I actually saw it and every review was BAD. But, I believe in giving movies a chance because many times I like poorly rated movies but not this time.
The general gist of the film centers around the orbital colony known as Elysium. Elysium is the home of the wealthy and well to do. They live in a paradise free from hunger or disease due to the "healing beds." The people on earth live in total poverty as they slave away in the factories owned by the people of Elysium. In short, it is a take on the old argument of rich vs, poor. And in trying to get that message across, the movie falls flat.
In the opening scenes, we hear the characters speaking Spanish. Later, they are speaking English. No explanation was given as to why this happened. We see robot cops and robot parole officers. Again, the reason for this is never given. Now, lets get to important stuff; we see that Los Angeles of 2154 is nothing but one huge slum. Shanties and run down buildings everywhere. We see Max, Matt Damon's character, going to work and we see manufacturing sites everywhere but no stores, no shops so where do they spend their money? We see people like Spider having access to DNA marking equipment and access to several exo-atmospheric shuttles used to fly people up to Elysium. Now, if the people on earth can just jump onto a shuttle and leave the atmosphere, why can't they produce healing beds and such themselves. A lot of it stems from the fact that the earth people have no respect for anything.
Now, lets look at the acting. There are some very talented people in this film. Matt Damon's portrayal of Max was just BAD! He has already proved that he can play an odd man out type hero with his role of Jason Bourne. The character of Max reminded someone of a blundering idiot that went from screw up to the next. Another disappoint was the character of John Carlyle. He was played by one of the most underrated character actors in the business today and that is William Fichtner. Fichtner has had supporting roles in many blockbuster films, such as Col. Willie Sharp in Armageddon; SFC Jeff Sanderson in Black Hawk Down and others. Fichtner almost appeared to be reading que cards. Now we come to the character of Defense Secretary Jessica Delacourt. Jodie Foster appeared to be attempting to act like a combination of Hannibal Lector, Darth Vader and a damsel in distress. She sucked just like the movie.
The general gist of the film centers around the orbital colony known as Elysium. Elysium is the home of the wealthy and well to do. They live in a paradise free from hunger or disease due to the "healing beds." The people on earth live in total poverty as they slave away in the factories owned by the people of Elysium. In short, it is a take on the old argument of rich vs, poor. And in trying to get that message across, the movie falls flat.
In the opening scenes, we hear the characters speaking Spanish. Later, they are speaking English. No explanation was given as to why this happened. We see robot cops and robot parole officers. Again, the reason for this is never given. Now, lets get to important stuff; we see that Los Angeles of 2154 is nothing but one huge slum. Shanties and run down buildings everywhere. We see Max, Matt Damon's character, going to work and we see manufacturing sites everywhere but no stores, no shops so where do they spend their money? We see people like Spider having access to DNA marking equipment and access to several exo-atmospheric shuttles used to fly people up to Elysium. Now, if the people on earth can just jump onto a shuttle and leave the atmosphere, why can't they produce healing beds and such themselves. A lot of it stems from the fact that the earth people have no respect for anything.
Now, lets look at the acting. There are some very talented people in this film. Matt Damon's portrayal of Max was just BAD! He has already proved that he can play an odd man out type hero with his role of Jason Bourne. The character of Max reminded someone of a blundering idiot that went from screw up to the next. Another disappoint was the character of John Carlyle. He was played by one of the most underrated character actors in the business today and that is William Fichtner. Fichtner has had supporting roles in many blockbuster films, such as Col. Willie Sharp in Armageddon; SFC Jeff Sanderson in Black Hawk Down and others. Fichtner almost appeared to be reading que cards. Now we come to the character of Defense Secretary Jessica Delacourt. Jodie Foster appeared to be attempting to act like a combination of Hannibal Lector, Darth Vader and a damsel in distress. She sucked just like the movie.