Elysium Movie Review

I have been waiting for Elysium since a month ago, because the movie trailer is enticing and I thought this will be a good Sci-Fi movie with some depth. Unfortunately once again my expectation failed me. Elysium by far is a good Sci-Fi movie with superb and gorgeous visual effects however the story itself is common with no deep substance. I think the movie maker invested too much in the action scenes and forget to develop a story-line to match with it. Below is the brief summary for Elysium.

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In distant future, people are divided by two classes, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium and the poor live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster), Elysian Secretary of Defense will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. However, it doesn't stop people from Earth to try to get in by any means they can, mostly to cure their illness in this man-sized medical device called Med-Bays that can cure any kind of disease or injuries. During his job, Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) was exposed to high level of radiation, he only have five days to live hence he agrees to take a dangerous mission to save his live by using Med-Bays in Elysium and brings equality to these polarized world. My main concern of Elysium is its lack of depth in terms of characters and background story. The story itself is very black and white, for example the wealthy one is depicted as cold and ruthless while the poor one is good and victimized. I understand that this movie is trying to be a social commentary of our current society. Inequality, illegal immigration and poverty are very common in every part of the world, so maybe Elysium is reminding us about the consequences of our social ignorance and greed, but still there's no novelty aspect by emphasizing this fact because the cause of this social condition was not explored further. This movie may start with full idealism and social consciousness but in the end Elysium is just another super-hero movie. Max is the martyr who save the world for the girl he loves, and this kind of story is very generic for Hollywood movies. I also feel the conclusion in Elysium is too easy and unrealistic, a very naive approach to give the illusion of happy ending. Acting wise, Matt Damon is solid as the anti-hero character with subtle affection for his childhood friend, Frey (who's is pretty useless in the entire movie). Jodie Foster is cold and steely, her acting is okay but I have problem with her fake french accent. Her character is very one dimensional though, I wish they can give us her background story and the reason of her ruthless action. Kruger as the psychopath agent is super creepy and great villain although IMO he got too much screen time, I mean they can use his screen time to give us some background story or something. In terms of appearance and visual effects Elysium is a good as you can get, the visual is gorgeous and pleasant. The ambiances of Dystopian future feels very real and detailed. No doubt it was made to impress you, however the story-line is half baked and shallow. Ultimately if you are looking for a movie to inspire you, Elysium is not the one. But it's good enough to entertain you for the weekend. I will give this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars.