ELYSIUM Review

Neil Blomkamp packs an emotional punch with his new film ELYSIUM gritty visuals with something missing in the formula.

The film is a roller coaster ride of emotion with Matt Damon's Max as the central POV. There's a lot of cool moments in the film but I feel that there's a missing piece in the movie that could've made it really, really stunning. Still, as it is, the movie is a smart addition to the sci-fi genre and poses an important question. "What gives the rich the right to deprive the poor?"



THE GOOD

- Matt Damon's take on the character was nice. Not awesome just nice. Blomkamp and co. definitely made the right choice for casting Damon as the down-on-his-luck Max. The actor channels 'tortured hero' pretty good.

- It's nice to see Diego Luna back in Hollywood movies again. The Y Tu Mama Tambien star has been absent for a while now and seeing him on screen was nice. Too bad the dude hasn't really broken into Hollywood big leagues.

- Sharlto Copely was a great villain here in Elysium. His Krueger is menacing and annoying at the same time. Plus points for his insane looking gear which includes a force field and a sinister sword/machete.

- The visuals here were top notch. Really worked extremely well with the IMAX technology. Giving twice the dose of greatness because it played on the Blomkamp's penchant for using wide angle establishing shots.

- Another Blomkamp related remark. Props to the director's consistency when doing sci-fi stuff. He just love dumpsite/ Payatas looking setting. Made me suddenly wish that Blomkamp's location crew discovers Payatas and other outlying dumpsites and use that for the setting of his other sci-fi flicks.

- I love the meta/ visual representation of the social classes here. The rich are so far away, so isolated and so ABOVE everything in Elysium while the poor live in crappy living quarters where they die needlessly. That actually is a good mirroring of current events and society. I'll give like a hundred points on Blomkamp for doing this movie.

THE BAD

- Seriously they marketed the film as a movie with Jodie Foster but the actress was barely there. Hell, William Fitchner had more stuff going on here than Foster. I'd say that was a total waste of good casting. They could have tried somebody else to deliver all those lines Foster just wasted. And if you're hoping for a juicier villain role for this Academy nominated actress, you're in for a hell of a disappointment.

- For the love of god I had a hard time understanding Copely's dialogues. Yeah, the actor played Krueger pretty damn well but they could've toned down the accent by a bit. Another case of good acting thrown down by bad accents.

- If you're expecting more slam bang action here in ELYSIUM you'll seriously be disappointed because whatever trailer you've seen, those are the only key action scenes. They should've left out other stuff like this for when people actually see the movie and not before.

Verdict: (- B) I'm good with ELYSIUM. Something OK, but not something to write home about. It's a decent film with lots of things going on and a big social commentary as well. But if you'll be seeing the movie for the sci-fi fight scenes and exoskeleton man breaking down robots then you'll surely be disappointed. BUT AGAIN, I can't stress enough that the movie is exceedingly good if you don't throw it amongst other science fiction films that came out lately.

Special thanks to Columbia Pictures Philippines for the invitation and for the photos. ELYSIUM now showing!

The Lone Ranger Review

I'm curious as to why US moviegoers and critics are panning Gore Verbinski's THE LONE RANGER starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp? Anyway here's my review. 

It's a modern take on a classic character. Hammer plays John Reid, a district attorney turned lawman turned masked outlaw and bandit. He's out for justice against Butch Cavendish (William Fitchner) and joins up with Tonto (Depp). 

The movie was OK in my book. I'm not too crazy about it but it does have some beauty to it. That of course might be a death knell since there are other writers/bloggers (especially in the United States) that detest the picture. I'm not one of them though. Simply put, THE LONE RANGER is your standard Summer Blockbuster flick filled with explosions and what not. Still it does hits and misses along the way. 

I thought the Lone Ranger was a fun movie. A couple of laughs here and there, thanks to Johnny Depp who transforms from Captain Jack Sparrow into Comanche mystery man Tonto. But just like the thick facepaint he has on for the rest of the movie, looks can be very deceiving. Hammer on the other hand falters then saddles right back up all throughout the movie. 

What irks me about Lone Ranger is that there are a couple of loose ends that they seem to have forgotten or neglected altogether. We're supposed to accept that Silver is a spirit horse? Just like that? We never find out how the heck Tonto's survived all those years and more importantly we never find out whether what he's been saying's been the truth all along. Simply put, we just have to accept everything.

Credit where it's due; the set piece/ action sequences for THE LONE RANGER was nice. Well thought of although it's got flaws. That final 'fight' onboard two runaway trains also packed a  punch. It's entertaining as heck. Visuals were nice. I can see great cinematography here blended with dated CG for the movements of Reid's horse which makes it look fake. 

Couple of added comments:

- Other than to follow tradition, why was Helena Bonham Carter added in the film? They could've done without her. Was she really necessary here??
- There's supposed to be a romance element here but I could hardly see any hint or glimmer. By the time we get back to that front, we hardly care anymore. Plus no chemistry between the two. 
- Fichtner was creepy as Butch Cavendish but he was really under utilized throughout the movie. Still, if the guy can do scary bad guy for meta movies such as THE LONE RANGER then at least we can sleep soundly knowing that there's hope for Michael Bay's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's baddie The Shredder.
- The movie tends to drop the ball in some cases where a decent action scene could've been placed. It's not bad, more like out-of-synch. 

Verdict: Overall, I wouldn't call THE LONE RANGER bad. I'd call it promising (if I were to be positive about it). There were so many rooms, so many gaps that could still be treated to make THE LONE RANGER's star/badge shine a little brighter. At the moment, were currently unsure whether or not we'll see a sequel but maybe when they do so, they get it right. 

The Lone Ranger NOW SHOWING distributed locally by Walt Disney Pictures.