'District 9' was a brilliantly directed sci-fi film that had a very serious message. 'Elysium' is pretty much the same but with one exception. The serious message in 'Elysium' is too obvious. In 'District 9' Neill was able to make the film fun and exciting enough so that you did not realize you were being preached to about race relations. In this film it lacks the thrills and sense of fun so the message is far more obvious and so over all the film feels very dull. The message of refugees does feel very relevant to us here in Australia because we are constantly being bombarded by the media and politicians about the huge number of 'boat people' who enter our country so the message felt very relevant. There is also one scene at the beginning of the film with Delacourt (Jodie Foster) dealing with a group of refugees arriving at Elysium which I felt was a very powerful image of how our current leader would like to deal with the situation if he could. Also part of the problem for me was the motivation for the character of Max, our hero. I was a little bit unsure at first as to why he was trying to get to Elysium until later when an old friend turns up. It's a petty thing but a small thing that just really annoyed me.
Matt Damon is a brilliant actor who can play just about any role. He does a decent job here but his character felt pretty bland. As I said above I found his motivation a bit mixed and so I did not become invested in the character and why he was going through his journey. Jodie Foster once again plays the cold hearted bitch role that she seems to be becoming famous for now. As is Sharlto Copley becoming famous for playing the role of crazy people. The best performance for me can from Diego Luna and Wagner Moura who to me had interesting characters to play.
Considering the expectations we had for this film it was a very big let down. I'm all for film makers putting messages into their films but they need to make it fun and exciting as well.
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