Review: Elysium

After the huge success of District 9, director Neill Blomkamp was always going to have a huge hill to climb. It was likely to be a disappointment, if not then it would be better then District 9 and therefore one of the best movies in the last decade.

Sadly, it was the likely outcome. But don't let that previous sentence sum up the whole film for you. There is a lot of things to enjoy in Blomkamp's latest installment.

The flow and amount of action is as top notch as District 9 was. The special effects, weapons and technology involved is still terrific. Some people would say that they have just taken everything from District 9. But if that's the case, then I'm not complaining as their designs and ideas are terrific. The soundtrack is always one part of the film I am eager to listen out for. It was absolutely amazing and definitely cranked everything up throughout the film. It's likely I will be playing this a few times before my next visit to the big screen.
One discovery that Blomkamp has made bigger and better is South African actor Sharlto Copley. After being the honest and sweet Wikus in District 9, he is now a bad-ass villain who is probably the best bit of the acting.

For lead actor Matt Damon, he is solid, but nothing to shout about. But he manages to hold his own as the lead. All the minor characters seemed to be what you would expect and nothing more. But by far the oddest and worst bit of the acting side of the film was Jodie Foster. She did look bad-ass and very authoritative, but her unnecessary accent throughout the film was just strange. It also looked like it was a second out of when her lips were moving. I thought it might be the digital projection being out of time, but everything else was in sync. I have been hearing that other people have been annoyed by this as well. It felt like on one of those awful Japanese films where everything is awfully dubbed.

As I'm now stating negatives I will now say that there is A LOT of plot-holes in this. I won't mention them as it might spoil your viewing experience to try and find them yourselves. It was a shame that there was a lot of information missing. If it filled those gaps, it would definitely have been a great film and a very successful one with the box office chart.

Despite that, I did still enjoy it. It felt like a lot of fun and there was enough content to have me satisfied. But it was a shame there was a lot of plot-holes that had me annoyed whilst watching. It was always going to be a disappointment after the huge success of District 9, but I think it is still enjoyable despite the missing parts of the plot and of course, Jodie Foster.

Rating: 7/10