Elysium

Elysium
(2013) [Trailer]
Director: Neill Blomkamp [IMDB]

I've been looking forward to checking out Elysium for some time now. I enjoyed Neill Blomkamp's first film District 9 and the trailer for Elysium looked to be within the same wheelhouse. Visually speaking, Blomkamp is one of the best directors working in the sci-fi genre, but can he bring another hit or will he suffer from the sophomore slump?

Synopsis: In a dystopian future the Earth and all its poor folk are left to ruin while its wealthier inhabitants live on a lush space station overlooking the shit show down below.

All the people that teared apart Prometheus for its plot holes can suck it. This film makes Prometheus look wired tight. I normally don't have a problem looking past plot holes, but there are way too many glaringly obvious ones with Elysium.

Skip the following list and head to the next paragraph if you're worried about spoilers.

Plot holes:

1. In the late 21st century with all the technology the people of Earth have (imagine the internet by then), you're telling me there's not one person down there that can't figure out how to make one of those medical beds? 
2. Why exactly do they need humans to man factories when they now have these super advanced robots that are fully capable of policing the Earth? 
3. Why doesn't Elysium enact the no fly zone everywhere? They could only open it up for their ships, thus getting rid of the constant threat of rogue ships flying there. 
4. Speaking of rogue ships, why would anyone from Earth try and fly to Elysium knowing that most of the time they only get blown up, or immediately captured and sent back.?

That's enough, there are way more, but this is getting lengthy. I know it sounds like I hated Elysium, I didn't. It was a highly entertaining film and I never felt bored at any moment watching it. It does excel in the visual department, as I expected, but there were also a lot of gory moments which ruled. The set pieces and locations were well constructed and absolutely sell the crap world Blomkamp is trying to give you. Matt Damon was good, Jodie Foster was average, and the South African bad guy was a little over the top... but I didn't mind him. 

Sadly, this could have been a better film, but the loose plot and weak story just didn't do it for me. I will end up buying this and rewatching it at some point, I think it may get better with time... who knows.