Neill Blomkamp’s next project... ELYSIUM? - Part 1

[BlackFox]

Matt did okay. His character is just unlikable and underwritten.

I know you cant give spoilers but "unlikable" is an interesting term for the main guy in the movie.

I'm certainly interested to find out why this is the case!

 

[Octoberist]

I'll PM you.

 

[BlackFox]

I'll PM you.

Nice one

 

[Poni_Boy]

Here's a write up from Film.com about how the movie handle its social commentary

http://www.film.com/movies/elysium-social-commentary

 

[Octoberist]

I just don't think Neil needs to improve on his subtextual stuff more artfully.

 

[jacobed]

I liked Damon in the role but I agree he was a bit unlikable

 

[BlackFox]

Seems like a lot of people have seen this already!!

 

[Persona]

The third act is messy, some character's motivations are highly questionable (unless they changed it in the final cut)

They did.

 

[Persona]

I liked Damon in the role but I agree he was a bit unlikable

i think D9 prepared me well for a somewhat unlikable protagonist.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

i agree it is a very misunderstood film the biggest thing thats misunderstood is that people think babydoll is who the story is about which is false,sucker punch is about sweet pea

I am sorry, that wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Hence all the cools. Sucker Punch isn't misunderstood. It just lacks any sort of understanding of how to deliver anything but surface.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I'll PM you.

Could you PM me on this as well? What is the big moment in the third act you have been mentioning?

 

[Schlosser85]

I haven't seen much talk about Jodie Foster.

Not much of a role? Not memorable? How "villainous" is she really? Evil or just a hard-nosed hawk?

 

[Poni_Boy]

I haven't seen much talk about Jodie Foster.

Not much of a role? Not memorable? How "villainous" is she really? Evil or just a hard-nosed hawk?

Stereotypical totalitarian. She wasn't bad she just didn't have much to work with like Damon. Her accent was terrible though. Very forced. No rhythm.

 

[Octoberist]

They did.

Before I go on spoiling it for people, Persona here has reinsured me that they changed this plot beat that made me so meh at my screening last year.

If that's the case, then there's point spoiling a major beat that has been changed.

 

[Poni_Boy]

I have no idea what the original third act was supposed to be but I'd like to know. Put it in spoiler tags if you can

 

[Octoberist]

More like the cusp of the second act.

[[BLACKOUT]B]While his ex-girlfriend was away, Matt Damon steals money from her hidden stash (intended for her sick daughter) [/B] [/BLACKOUT]It happens so late in the film that by the time he earned any sort of redemption, it wasn't earned.

Is that scene still in?

 

[Tim_Riggins]

What are the complaints about Foster's accent? Is it her french or whatever? She speaks perfect french, so I'm surprised.

 

[Deserana]

According to some reviews I've seen apparently she goes for some weird futuristic kind of voice...

 

[terry78]

Not After Earth bad, I hope. I would like to think she's better than that.

 

[Persona]

Before I go on spoiling it for people, Persona here has reinsured me that they changed this plot beat that made me so meh at my screening last year.

If that's the case, then there's point spoiling a major beat that has been changed.

and i suppose i could be wrong, but i know you said you saw a test screening last year where there was a major plot beat involving Damon's character that really bugged you, and in the Los Angeles Times piece that came out a few days ago (i linked it in the previous thread) they said that test screenings from last year had a plot beat with Damon's character that rubbed the audiences the wrong way, so Neill did a two-day reshoot in December to adjust that and he's actually happier with the film now. basically the piece painted it as the one time that Neill's creative control on the film was really challenged but it worked out for the best, at least in Neill's eyes.

 

[redhawk23]

What makes me kind of laugh is how many reviews open with some variation of "expectations are a dangerous thing" before delving into criticizing the film for not fitting the expectations they had following District 9. Have any of these reviewers considered that some of these problems may lie with the viewer and not the film? Its just an oddly consistent theme.

 

[Tanin]

Since District 9 was his first major film I am not holding Elysium up just in case his first was just a fluke.

 

[Poni_Boy]

More like the cusp of the second act.

[[BLACKOUT]B]While his ex-girlfriend was away, Matt Damon steals money from her hidden stash (intended for her sick daughter) [/B] [/BLACKOUT]It happens so late in the film that by the time he earned any sort of redemption, it wasn't earned.

Is that scene still in?

Nope that's not in it.

According to some reviews I've seen apparently she goes for some weird futuristic kind of voice...

Think of Marion Cotillard when she speaks English. Her accent is melodic and rhythmic. Jodie's is not. It's harsh and almost guttural. Doesn't sound at all like a French woman speaking English it sounds like an actor making up an accent.

 

[Poni_Boy]

Since District 9 was his first major film I am not holding Elysium up just in case his first was just a fluke.

What's funny was after last year's Comic-con debut I described Elysium as "District 9 with a $100 mil budget"so people could understand the larger scale but similar visceral feel, but now that's I've seen the movie the similarity to D9 is more in terms of the story itself than visuals. It's very similar in a disappointing way.

 

[Marvin]

What makes me kind of laugh is how many reviews open with some variation of "expectations are a dangerous thing" before delving into criticizing the film for not fitting the expectations they had following District 9. Have any of these reviewers considered that some of these problems may lie with the viewer and not the film? Its just an oddly consistent theme.

And singular review should be for anyone, everyone and more specifically the individual with no expectations and or preconceptions, it's the only way to give something to an audience honestly and without assuming they have seen the same body of work has had the same nights rest and filling breakfast and overall the same taste in film the particular critic has.

Sadly the opinions of small(in the grand scheme of things) consensus that is the critical establishment has become almost the furthest thing from a place to find such a thing.

Just seems pointless imo.