Elysium is one of the most jarring and inconsistent movies of the summer.

There are images and themes in this film which resonate so deeply that we are reminded why going to the movies is so magical in the first place. And then there are plot devices and character choices that threaten to destroy the beauty that has come before. Despite the film’s identity crisis, there is too much good to ignore in Elysium, making it one of the best films of the summer.

Elysium is director Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to District 9, another science-fiction story with big ideas but executed much more effectively. Here we are thrust into a futuristic Los Angeles in the year 2154, a place policed by robotic drones and inhabited by the poor and helpless. All of the nation’s wealthy and powerful have abandoned Earth for a new habitat in the sky called Elysium. This heavily protected utopia is where the elite are pampered and isolated from the remnants of Earth and it’s also one the film’s first unsubtle touches.

Life on Earth is hard in 2154 when we first meet our hero Max, a reformed car thief played by a bald and tattooed Matt Damon, because nothing says dangerous car thief like a bald head and tons of tattoos. He’s barely holding down a job making the same robots that police his neighborhood and like everyone else, all he can think about is escaping reality and going to Elysium. That pipe dream soon becomes a life-or-death necessity after a factory accident puts him in the kind of danger that can only be cured on the distant paradise.

Oh yeah, health care in 2154 sucks just as bad as it does in 2013. Blomkamp’s unsubtle screenplay makes minimal effort to hide its political views but that’s to the film’s benefit. This is a smart filmmaker who is consciously being as unsubtle as possible, essentially appealing to the masses to get his point across. This would be considered shameless and naïve under a less experienced filmmaker but Blomkamp is shrewd enough to balance out the medicine with some sugar and that mostly comes in the film’s gorgeous visuals and enveloping score.

All the shots on Elysium are pristine and delicate while back on Earth the visuals are appropriately grungy and washed out. There are also character moments of genuine emotion between Max and his friends on Earth and then there are thrilling action set pieces that mostly involve an Elysian mercenary played by District 9’s Sharlto Copley. Both of these factors are handled with professional care by Blomkamp and go a long way toward balancing out the film’s flaws.

And boy, do we have some flaws to talk about! Let’s begin with the film’s most obvious offense, wasting the talents of Jodie Foster. She plays the evil political enforcer on Elysium and it’s supposed to be a fun, scene-chewing role which could explain why her crack at it goes horribly wrong. I don’t know whose idea it was to saddle her with whatever terrible accent and cadence she is attempting but it’s distracting and easily one of her worst performances on film. She literally sounds like her entire performance was re-recorded at the last minute to cover up an even worse performance. To have that be a sore spot at the center of your big budget science-fiction movie is not a good thing.

More excusable but equally distracting is the film’s third act. It feels like Blomkamp’s screenplay was written by someone else in the way Elysium starts so strong and full of promise, only to fumble the ball at the end by turning into a dumbed-down version of itself.

Elysium has been splitting critics since its premiere earlier this week. It could have something to do with the film’s unapologetic political views or it could be something else. Maybe I’m in more of a forgiving mood this week, who knows? All I can say is despite its flaws, Elysium is riveting filmmaking that stands above many of this season’s big blockbusters and after a long slog of underperformers, it’s great to be excited about the movies again.

Grade: B+

Rated: R (for strong bloody violence and language throughout)

Elysium opens in theaters on August 9, 2013.