Save Ferris

I thought the story made it so that it was a specifically hacked protocol that would turn Jodi Foster into the new president (how she ordered it). Then Sharlto wanted it because he realized HE could become president.. THEN spider or Matt Damon realized they could make everyone equal somehow? That whole plot point kind of took me out of the movie. Since when does rebooting a computer remove all admin privledges?

BravesMG

I thought the robot line was something like 'we are protecting a citizen of Elysium,' which would have been the response if any citizen threatened any other citizen. It was just recoded so that logic applied to everyone instead of only those on the proper ID DNA coding. They also went out of their way to show the only change in the program was to change the citizen status to all. My assumption was that if everything went according to plan, Jodie Foster could just sit in a dark room with the code during the reboot and type in a bunch of oddly simple text strings to change whatever she wanted. It didn't really make much sense.

Overall, I thought it was fine but nothing special. There was so much lazy foreshadowing and heavy handed messaging that it felt like it was painting-by-numbers the whole time. I also didn't at all understand how the hell the exo-skeleton turned him into Superman and how Sharlito had an exo-skeleton installed in what felt like 30 seconds with no damage. The pills that Damon took sounded like they made him impervious to pain, not impervious to all bodily harm. He took insane beatings and looked fine even at the end. Ah well, just felt like a missed opportunity.

Why So Blu?

Granted, Sharlto's suit was much more advanced and they did install it on him on Elysium, he was up and running almost instantly. Yet, when Damon's character had it installed, that shit was brain surgery (graphic as hell) and he was knocked out for a few hours. That's the kind of editing that irked me.

Deftones

Spider said "you can't arrest me now, because I'm a citizen." He didn't say he was the president. the reason why the medical ships were sent out was because once everyone of Earth became a citizen of Elysium, the robots were programmed to provide medical support. Obviously the people down below needed it, so they were automatically dispatched.

I see BravesMG covered it. It didn't make Spider president. it just made it so they were all equal and he was no longer a "trespasser" on Elysium.

PenguinJoe

Not a terrible movie but I found Kruger kind of hard to understand. Also couldn't they just put the reboot code on a flashdrive or something?

PenguinJoe

Just because a computer says someone is president they become president? That made no sense, I'm assuming these people had some sort of general election, it's not as if they completely forgot the candidates they voted for.

Deftones

the reboot code was hardwired to people's brains. that and the virus that carlyle put in the code made it seem like extraction wouldn't work.

dvdcooler

I loved District 9, but this disappointed me.

It's enjoyable and worth seeing - but some of the 'stupid' is unforgivable. I was hoping for more.

johnnysd

I really liked this movie. I thought it wasn't the greatest script, but I thought that the direction was absolutely fantastic and really elevated the film. Some of the best special effects I have seen and nothing seemed CGI even Elysium which was wondrous. I would love to see him direct the second SW movie

Josh-da-man

I'm surprised to see all of the love heaped on District 9.

I thought that the metaphor in that movie was a too heavy-handed, and it felt like I was constantly being beat over the head with the message. Now, mind, it's a message I'm sympathetic to, but it's something that would seem to work better in a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits type of setting than being stretched out to a full-length movie.

Jules Winfield

I'm surprised at all of the hate for District 9. You're really that surprised? I heard nothing but raves when it initially came out. It's great, a purely visceral piece of sci-fi. The hate strikes me as a jumping on the band wagon type of deal(I'm sure that's not the case for all but I do get that aftertaste when people say District 9 was too preachy/unoriginal/devolved into another action movie opinion.).The mixture of message, action, and sci-fi all clicks for me. I love that the hero starts off as a bit of a douche and the action beats at the end bring a big roar from me.

I can't say the same for Elysium though. Sure, it's a solid movie but I think this ends up being more heavy handed then District 9. Definitely needed some more character building. Damon's final act seems comes off as "Eh, I'm tired from all this fighting anyways. I need a rest." It doesn't feel earned. The world looks great though. I continue to love the weapons Blomkamp pollutes his films with but the I didn't have as enthusiastic a reaction. My fault for hyping it up. Shit.

RichC2

District 9 didn't work for me because I found it poorly paced and then videogame-y. I thought it was clever, just didn't enjoy it.

RocShemp

I liked the intent of District 9. I just felt the script wasn't clever enough to carry that message across. And as RichC2 said, it turned into a video game during the end. At that point it just went full retard and I didn't care for it one bit.

It was far better as a short and even the short was rather dull.

Jules Winfield

This is all alien language to me. I felt the action stemmed organically from what happened before. Nothing retarded about it. The action had a lot more impact than some recent blockbusters so I don't see the video game criticism either. Didn't you like Hansel and Gretel? District 9's action seemed like a video game but that movie's didn't? Ai-yi-yi!

Jules Winfield

So, you don't enjoy clever things? "This movie was clever but I'm quite the dullard!" That's what your comment sounds like!

Why So Blu?

District 9 was also part one of a proposed series wasn't it? Elysium was conceived as a standalone feature. If not, and they decide to continue this story, they really need to expand on the universe. L.A., as big as it was in the film, is to small of a focus. What about the rest of the world? Are they all in L.A. too? I think Blomkamp should have brought his co-writer on D9 along to help flesh out Elysium.

OldBoy

judging by the lack of ratings in the poll, this looks like it won't do so well this weekend. anyone have early estimates?

**edit** boxofficemojo says around $30 million. i guess that is pretty decent. well short of production and ad budget, so we will see if a profit is in the future...

Dr. DVD

^ My showing was close to full on a Saturday afternoon. Rare for a rated R movie. Also, many people are most likely doing back to school shopping this weekend.

Saw it. Good but not great.

My major problem: Elysium seems to rely on Delacourt calling Kruger to shoot down any attempt to breach the area. The whole place is open for ANY kind of craft to fly right in with no form of defenses? No missile turrets or even a force field? Give me a break. If the people on Earth decided to launch a massive invasion with hundreds of ships, they would be screwed in Elysium. No way Kruger or however many other sleeper agents they had could shoot them all down.
Also, I disliked the fact that they turned the third act into Mortal Kombat. That aside, it was entertaining and Blomkamp seems to have the ability to create worlds on the level of Ridley Scott. Very impressive visually, but I thought the production values on District 9 were more impressive, and that had a much smaller budget.

Solid Snake

What do you mean it went Mortal Kombat?

dino88

Best movie with humans in metal suits this year. Liked it, but it didn't live up to my expectations.

Why So Blu?

You're assuming that there's anything or anyone left outside of L.A.

That's one of the weak plot points in the film.

dave-o

Elysium 2: opening scene. Wide pan of the once pristine and beautiful Elysium overrun by disease, pollution, and poverty. End scene.

Saw it tonight. I loved it. Not nearly as good as DS9, but beautiful and good action. Needed better casting and writing, but overall it was fun and engaging.

Why So Blu?

Racist.

dave-o

dave-o

By the way, why does the hippo help the meerkat?