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So I got back from seeing Elysium today.
It would've been nice to have heard or seen a bit more of a backstory to the place itself, that is-the shape and structure of it and why it's done as such. Instead we basically get chucked into the plot with very minimal backstory. There are some very clear similarities between our current world and the world set in the film too (except that the upper class are "separate" from us compared to the lower class)
Matt Damon plays the central character and it works nicely. He handles it a bit too "gung-ho" for someone who works in a factory though and seems to act like he had military training. Apparently they were going to offer the role to Eminem, who wanted the film to be shot in Detroit. Personally, Matt seems to fill the role WAY better. Again, we don't get a lot of backstory as to his character. He's apparently an ex-con, but the only reference to that is that he once stole stuff from a market as a kid. The character as a whole seems a tad one-dimensional too.
Jodie Foster plays the main "villain" in this story. Now HER character I could actually draw on a bit more of a link between the movie and the modern-day world in terms of immigration and how she handles it (think very much "shoot them down" type thing). Except that in this story, the immigrants aren't trying to blend into the United States, they're trying to get medical treatment for themselves/their kids before leaving. The main reason why I refer to her as the "villain" in this sense is that her actions set the chain of events in motion, rather than the other baddie who comes into play.
The other bad guy is played by a South African guy. I will admit, I thought he was Australian at first due to the accent (sounds a tad ocker and when you put Australian accents next to American ones, they sound VERY different)
. The reason why he's NOT the main villain to me is more that he doesn't have a motive or a reason to do anything at first-Jodie Foster's character gives him a reason and some information to do so. Just beware-his character (along with Matt Damon's) have some very gruesome scenes in the film.
The plot itself seemed a tad rushed at times and it would've been nice to have seen more of a backstory to several more of the characters (for instance, Matt damon's love interest has a daughter. More information about the daughter please, especially because she proves to be one of the focal points in the story!), which would've helped give them a reason.
The ending is nice and seemed to me as a subtle "this is how we help curb illegal immigration" PSA-that is, address the problems on their home turf and that'll give them less of a reason to come over here.
There was one scene though that made me giggle VERY much so: the shape of the "rich" people's house resembles a star. At one point in the beginning, the star actually flickers back and forth against the screen for a bit, looking more like it's been suspended from fishing wire.
So mixed overall: semi-decent storyline, slightly one-dimensional characters, but otherwise a damn good almost 2-hour action flick.
It would've been nice to have heard or seen a bit more of a backstory to the place itself, that is-the shape and structure of it and why it's done as such. Instead we basically get chucked into the plot with very minimal backstory. There are some very clear similarities between our current world and the world set in the film too (except that the upper class are "separate" from us compared to the lower class)
Matt Damon plays the central character and it works nicely. He handles it a bit too "gung-ho" for someone who works in a factory though and seems to act like he had military training. Apparently they were going to offer the role to Eminem, who wanted the film to be shot in Detroit. Personally, Matt seems to fill the role WAY better. Again, we don't get a lot of backstory as to his character. He's apparently an ex-con, but the only reference to that is that he once stole stuff from a market as a kid. The character as a whole seems a tad one-dimensional too.
Jodie Foster plays the main "villain" in this story. Now HER character I could actually draw on a bit more of a link between the movie and the modern-day world in terms of immigration and how she handles it (think very much "shoot them down" type thing). Except that in this story, the immigrants aren't trying to blend into the United States, they're trying to get medical treatment for themselves/their kids before leaving. The main reason why I refer to her as the "villain" in this sense is that her actions set the chain of events in motion, rather than the other baddie who comes into play.
The other bad guy is played by a South African guy. I will admit, I thought he was Australian at first due to the accent (sounds a tad ocker and when you put Australian accents next to American ones, they sound VERY different)
. The reason why he's NOT the main villain to me is more that he doesn't have a motive or a reason to do anything at first-Jodie Foster's character gives him a reason and some information to do so. Just beware-his character (along with Matt Damon's) have some very gruesome scenes in the film. The plot itself seemed a tad rushed at times and it would've been nice to have seen more of a backstory to several more of the characters (for instance, Matt damon's love interest has a daughter. More information about the daughter please, especially because she proves to be one of the focal points in the story!), which would've helped give them a reason.
The ending is nice and seemed to me as a subtle "this is how we help curb illegal immigration" PSA-that is, address the problems on their home turf and that'll give them less of a reason to come over here.
There was one scene though that made me giggle VERY much so: the shape of the "rich" people's house resembles a star. At one point in the beginning, the star actually flickers back and forth against the screen for a bit, looking more like it's been suspended from fishing wire.
So mixed overall: semi-decent storyline, slightly one-dimensional characters, but otherwise a damn good almost 2-hour action flick.
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