Comments on: “I F*cked It Up”: Neill Blomkamp Says He Wants To Go Back To ‘Elysium’ And “Do It Correctly”

By: davescififan

davescififan — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 21:44:30 +0000

\’Concepts are just as interesting to me as stories are. Where, to normal people, stories are more interesting\’ – No Neill, stories are important to people going to see this film and paying $15 to watch essentially a bunch of beautiful half formed ideas. If you like concepts then be a concept designer but if you want to be a director then tell a f#cking story!

By: Black Maria

Black Maria — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 00:14:41 +0000

He should go back, then and remake all his films based on the second act failings of District 9, Elysium and word on the street regarding Chappie.

By: jared

jared — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 06:54:08 +0000

Well done Neil, your film was a gift, both meaningful and entertaining which is what a film should be. I can still see that gun spraying the bad guy across the corridor – what a deliciously f-ked up sound it made, but also I thoroughly enjoyed the medical ships landing at the film’s conclusion, what a delight! And you\’ll only get better with each step if you keep following your gut instincts. Let your imagination guide you, believe in yourself and f-k the critics. They are either envious or simply don\’t want to think.

By: Jared

Jared — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 06:53:18 +0000

This film is captivating and original entertainment, but it is also brilliant because it encapsulates exactly the current trajectory our species is headed. Massive species loss and ecosystem breakdown, wide scale unemployment, civil unrest and advanced social degradation, the rise of robotics and technology being exploited by the rich at the expense of the poor. It\’s already started. But what are most of us doing? Snoring, mostly. Shut up or wake up please, you\’re giving me a headache you docile apes.

By: Jared

Jared — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 06:52:52 +0000

It was a brilliant film – I’ve watched it several times!
Yes, the concept dominated, because it is actually such a great concept. Neil critical? An artist is always critical of their own work, even minutes after you lock it down you are already thinking \’what if I just did such and such a little differently\’. Action and entertainment: it was a riot! But it should also be hailed for the wake up call that it is. If you\’re paying attention at all you’ll be savvy to the unfolding demise of our species and this planet, and you\’ll be very much aware that we rocketing toward the Elysium story.

By: craig

craig — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 00:56:26 +0000

Bit harsh on himself there. I felt Elysium was a very enjoyable and watchable film. I\’d say beget than District 9 myself

By: Rodney McBauldenTymes

Rodney McBauldenTymes — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 18:10:43 +0000

Elysium was a really beautiful turd. A B-movie for sure, but one that should have been made for $200k or less. With cheapo sets and everything. Directed by 80s version of John Carpenter.
I think Blomkamp wanted to do a heavier, artier film. But, if so, he should have done it and not kow-towed to the studios. Kow-towing does not a maverick make.

By: Les

Les — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:23:06 +0000

After the success of District 9 Blomkamp thought he didn\’t need co-screenwriter Tatchell for Elysium. Result: disappointment critically and commercially. Wisely, he realized his mistake and brought her back for Chappie. Directors are great visualists but they tend to struggle with abstract concepts like story and character.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 14:48:01 +0000

i liked Elysium. prefered it to district 9. but maybe its because i didnt have any expectations about it and was pleasantly surprised. only thing i didnt particularly like was jodie foster. always the same gormless expression. she was great in Silence of the lambs and her kids movie. but since then she seems stuck in the same wooden pose.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 03:36:53 +0000

His biggest f*ck-up is repeatedly using Sharlto Copley, who has been absolutely terrible of late. Jodie Foster was also acting like she was stuck in a particularly hammy children\’s pantomime too. Just horrendous performances from both.

By: John Miller

John Miller — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 08:15:01 +0000

"Elysium" didn\’t work for me. It just didn\’t seen nearly as focused as "District 9." "Chappie" hasn\’t sounded interesting to me from the beginning. The new "Alien" could be very cool! Hoping Blomkamp makes it work.

By: Nabokov

Nabokov — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 21:12:57 +0000

Could someone who has a direct line to Mr. Blomkamp please call him and explain to him what a satire is.

By: FOEC

FOEC — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 02:03:59 +0000

It\’s a good thing when a director is given millions of dollars because he\’s excited about a concept, particularly in the realm of sci-fi, which has lost the importance of allegory in today\’s multi-million dollar projects. If Blomkamp is a concept-oriented filmmaker then let him run with it. What Elysium showed us is that a director must recognise his need for an accomplished screenwriter before cameras starting rolling. As with the old quote about the sound-era studio execs "paying more attention to creaky floorboards than creaky stories" the technical accomplishments of Elysium can\’t mask the weakness of the story but that isn\’t to say that Blomkamp should take a story as his starting point from now on. District 9 showed that he wasn\’t a particularly nuanced screenwriter but with a script that was good enough he could be a director as storyteller and entertainer. Here\’s hoping that he can continue to take a great concept as his starting point but then let an accomplished writer articulate it into something he can really work with.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 08:01:07 +0000

I thought Elysium was a real good movie

By: RandolphClearwaterson

RandolphClearwaterson — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 05:33:23 +0000

i like his visual tastes, was never into the stories or characters. But as for his comments it is his movie and if that is what he feels so be it. Hopefuly he can hook up with someone to round out the equation with him.

By: bottombrick

bottombrick — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 05:29:53 +0000

I appreciate his candor, I liked the movie but had a hard time sharing it with friends because they were put off by the heavy handed aspects of the story that lacked nuance and depth. It wasn\’t quite as tone deaf as the story in Avatar, but it was the same type of deal. I still love District 9, and I look forward to his next movie and hope he can craft a story that doesn\’t go for easy answers, and that can live up to his other wonderful ideas

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 04:21:26 +0000

Loved D9. Really disliked Elysium. He\’s absolutely right about the script not being what it could have been. I\’m very glad that he publicly announced this, and was already hyped for Chappie because it was another Blomkamp film, not to mention, Die Antwoord!!

By: Braid Hamkin

Braid Hamkin — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 02:03:34 +0000

elysiun had matt damone so petty much it rules. All y\’all assholes know I\’m right.

By: LA2000

LA2000 — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 01:11:49 +0000

None of this talk about getting blinded by his infatuation for concept and visuals is particularly encouraging for an "Alien" project in which he spent his initial energy fleshing out conceptual art rather than writing a script.

Poor Sigourney Weaver. She\’s going to be fighting "Alien" in battle armored Depends before they get around to bringing this series to the conclusion it deserves.

By: Doki

Doki — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 00:52:45 +0000

Maybe he should have just done Battle Angel since James Cameron apparently isn\’t going to get around to it. Extremely similar story.

By: Eon

Eon — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 00:42:09 +0000

To me, what doomed the story was the socialist mentality behind it. Dealing with the theme of social inequality without appealing to socialist clichés is not easy. As he said, the idea of a ring above earth were the rich people live is indeed awesome. What is stupid is assuming that rich people would prevent poor people from accessing its resources just because their evil, and not because the resources are limited. The logic behind the story was totally stupid. In the end you get this message that if the powerful people go down, then everything will be fine. It will not. Bring down the powerful and share their resources among the poorest, and what you get is the same poor world with no rich people. It would be very funny if the movie countinued for 10 more minutes and showed what happened to the 20th poor guy in line to receive medical treatment. You know, when he got to his turn and the machine ran out of whatever resource was powering it and the guy said "oh sh…". And then the world came back to the same it was before all the rich people got expropriated.

By: JImmy

JImmy — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 00:29:21 +0000

Movie sucked. You don\’t "go back". It sucked because he is a one hit wonder.Chappie will prove this.

By: gerard kennelly

gerard kennelly — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 22:26:02 +0000

Duncan Jones made \’MOON\’ it was brilliant (especially the soundtrack) so Hollywood threw money and stars at him and he made SOURCE CODE

By: gerard kennelly

gerard kennelly — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 22:24:05 +0000

Gareth Edwards made \’Monsters\’ it was brilliant then Hollywood threw money (and stars) at him and he made \’Godzilla\’

By: gerard kennelly

gerard kennelly — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 22:21:26 +0000

district 9 was brilliant then Hollywood threw money (and stars)at him and he made Elysium