Elysium 2013

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: A grim and predictable adventure saga that is not nimble but leaden. Dystopia has rarely been so dysto-pointing. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Mr. Damon's performance helps keep the movie from sinking under the weight of its artfully constructed horrors. Read more

Matthew Kassel, New York Observer: Like Max, the movie has to keep moving, and Mr. Blomkamp lets you fill in the gaps yourself as it progresses. Or not. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Damon brings both a weary optimism and convincing physicality to Max, who is no revolutionary. He just wants to live, and is willing to don an exoskeletal combat suit and fight robots to do it. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Few mainstream moviemakers have painted as sprawling and densely detailed a portrait of humanity in extremis as Blomkamp does here. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: Even working within a more conventional framework, Blomkamp again proves to be a superb storyteller. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Appealing though he usually is as an action hero, Damon doesn't have much to do here but scowl and look cool brandishing giant weapons. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It's pretty cool to try to work those worthy topics into a science-fiction film, but it's too bad Blomkamp checked all semblance of subtlety at the door. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: If ''Elysium'' doesn't nearly live up to ''District 9,'' it shows enough panache to leave us waiting enthusiastically for his next effort. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: An expertly-made slice of future shock that breaks no new ground whatsoever. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The visual style evokes numerous bone-crushing blockbusters of recent years, but part of what makes this so invigorating is the way it turns the genre on its head, critiquing military might and voicing sympathy for the disenfranchised. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Damon has an awfully good nose for material; even when "Elysium" grows allegorically simplistic or familiar, the script avoids pounding cliche, and Blomkamp and his design and effects teams give us a plausibly harsh idea of things to come. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: If Elysium is an example of how recession-era Hollywood intends to dramatize the rift between the haves and the have-nots, let's hope the studios don't also bring back Smell-O-Rama. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Elysium is a gripping, visceral, disconcerting bit of business. Just as writer-director Neill Blomkamp intended. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: An epic about saving humanity that feels more manufactured than human. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: Director/writer [Neill] Blomkamp has tossed adie any sense of subtlety for a heavy-handed reprise of some of District 9's basic themes hog-tied to a riff on undocumented immigration. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Elysium confirms the talent - for razory mayhem and shocking satire, for the crazed spectacle of future decay - that Blomkamp showcased in his amazing first feature, District 9. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: Blomkamp's seemingly limitless imagination in terms of tech finds itself repeatedly and frustratingly grounded by heavy-handed storytelling. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Any thematic audacity is snuffed out by action sequences that you can now buy at Dollar General. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: A politically charged flight of speculative fiction makes an exciting launch, only to tailspin into an ungainly crash landing in Elysium. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Although the pulp energy that Blomkamp brings to this material makes it consistently watchable, the film doesn't feel as singular as we would have hoped. Read more

Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News: For all its flaws, Elysium is an often-absorbing and largely entertaining film from a young director with a great future. That makes it worth seeing -- if not a complete success. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Furiously exciting sci-fi, carefully considered and loaded with allegories and social commentary. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The movie is both sloppy in its details and too literal in its thinking. A less blunt allegory might have made for sharper entertainment. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: It hits you as fact; the director's fiercest gift is not to invent the future, as a plausible dream, but to report on it as if it already existed Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's like one of those bad "Star Trek" episodes, when Gene Roddenberry stopped everything on the bridge so he could lecture us about the Cold War. Read more

David Edelstein, NPR: Elysium revs you up, and on its own dumb terms it delivers. But it's less fun when Blomkamp blows something up than when he sends it up ... Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Like some of the best sci-fi movies, it draws strength from a great idea. Then it settles for crunching battles and predictability. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Putting on his Very Serious face for what ought to be a romp, Matt Damon is exactly the wrong choice for a role that 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger would have played with a twinkle in his eye. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: The movie's blue-collar aesthetic, impressive in its vision and kinetics, lacks emotional variety and humor. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Among the slew of recent futuristic hell-in-a-handbasket spectacles, Elysium takes the cake. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: I departed the theater satisfied with what I'd seen but wanting more. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: This is one of the better action films of the year. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: Despite a crazy-bad performance from a two-time Oscar winner, 'Elysium' is great entertainment. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Elysium delivers sci-fi without dumbing it down. It's a hell-raiser with a social conscience. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Makes clear that Blomkamp is a genuine visionary who's trying to push the envelope of possibility in mainstream popcorn cinema. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "Elysium" is an action movie made for people thinking about something besides things blowing up. Damon shows you everything without trying to show you anything - at least without seeming like he's trying. He's like looking into clear water. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Does a little, sometimes shockingly little, with a lot. Read more

Rob Nelson, Minneapolis Star Tribune: What's great about "Elysium" is that it invites and even encourages discussion and debate while delivering proficiently at the levels of plot, action and special effects. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: This vision of a violent future makes "Elysium" well worth seeing, even as the conventional violence of the thriller finale makes it a missed opportunity. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: Though Elysium is a testament to Blomkamp's extraordinary skill as a visual filmmaker, it does not speak nearly so well for his gifts as a writer. Read more

Adam Nayman, Globe and Mail: A cautionary tale about the dangers of squandering resources that wastes its own talent. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Damon's presence greatly alleviates the been-there feel of this Elysium excursion, which starts to run out of steam when the usual explosive heroics kick in. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It might not be the thinking man's fill-in-the-blank that some viewers were eagerly anticipating, but it's a solid adventure that oversells its deeper meanings. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: [A] conceptually bold, sporadically engaging but ultimately bland blockbuster. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Elysium may point with a singularly pulpy brio toward where we could be headed. But in terms of how its fictional heroes try to transcend such brave new worlds, it's not showing us a future we haven't seen a million times before. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Elysium is a sporadically engaging tale, as well as a potent commentary on immigration and health care policies. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: It's hard to say if the movie sags around the weight of [Damon's] performance or if he's just working inhumanly hard to hold this heavy-spirited picture aloft. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The action is bludgeoning. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Blomkamp's admirable if obvious egalitarianism too often devolves into simplistic wish-fulfillment. Still, his formidable visual imagination is on full display. Read more