After seeing Elysium, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by Neill Blomkamp's sophomore outing. The film's greatest failing is quite simple: the casting of Matt Damon.
I don't mean to suggest that Mr. Damon doesn't do a good job - well, actually, it may not be his best work - but that's not the problem. It would have been a far more pointed statement to have made the protagonist another one of the legion of disadvantaged Hispanic inhabitants of the future Los Angeles. As it is, Damon stands out like a sore thumb. (There's also some kind of unfortunate synergy in having a white guy act as the saviour of the world.)
There's absolutely no reason that Damon's part couldn't have been played by Javier Bardem, Eduardo Noriega, or even a complete unknown from the Hispanic acting community, and a lot of good reasons why it should have been. Come on, Neill, did you really not realize what your film was actually about?
- Sid
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