Film: Elysium

GENRE: Action, Sci-Fi, Drama
RATING: 14A for violence and language
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 49 minutes
STARRING: Matt Damon (Bourne series, Contagion)
Jodie Foster (Inside Man); Sharlto Copley (District 9, A-Team)
DIRECTOR: Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
WRITER: Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
PLOT: A sick man on the trashed and overpopulated earth tries to get to the space Station Elysium, where the wealthy live.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 This film is definitely District-9ish, if you know what I mean. It has an independent South African sensibility while still being a sci-fi flick. If you liked District 9, you would probably like this one as well.
2 I was hoping for more time and visuals of Elysium. They spent a little too long on Earth. I guess it’s a lot cheaper to shoot it that way.
3 I was also hoping for more sneaking around. They pretty much go everywhere guns a-blazing. And hand-to-hand stuff as well.
4 While Damon and Copley do fine work as adversaries, I also enjoyed some of the supporting cast as well. Wagner Moura (newcomer) as the hacker Spider is fun to watch as is the slimy William Fichtner (Armageddon, Lone Ranger).
5 At some points, watching Damon and Copley fight is like seeing a skeletal version of Iron Man. Just a bunch of metal beings hitting each other really hard; this seems more brutal and painful though.

RECOMMENDATION: DVD or theatre, it’s a toss-up
UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Butler