Review 258: Elysium
In
the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live
on a prestine man-made space station called Elysium and the rest, who
live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster)
will stop at nothing to preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the
citizens of Elysium - but that doesn't stop the people of Earth from
trying to get there by any means necessary. When an industrial accident leaves him with a cancer virus,
36 year-old former car-thief-turned-factory-worker Max DeCosta (Matt
Damon) agrees to take on a life-threatening mission, armed with a powerful exoskeleton, one that could bring equality to these polorized worlds.
The plot is a work of sheer genius, like District 9 it's a fun and utterly thrilling sci fi film with a healthy dose of social commentary, but Neill Blomkamp doesn't repeat himself, even though it isn't as thought provoking as District 9 you can tell it's not trying to be, even though Elysium shares similar themes with District 9, it deals with darker and richer themes that are more political and sociological such as Immigration, Overpopulation, Transhumanism, health care work exploitation, the Justice System and class issues.
The plot is a work of sheer genius, like District 9 it's a fun and utterly thrilling sci fi film with a healthy dose of social commentary, but Neill Blomkamp doesn't repeat himself, even though it isn't as thought provoking as District 9 you can tell it's not trying to be, even though Elysium shares similar themes with District 9, it deals with darker and richer themes that are more political and sociological such as Immigration, Overpopulation, Transhumanism, health care work exploitation, the Justice System and class issues.
Opening with some beautiful landscape shots of
Immigration: The people who live on Earth want to migrate to Elysium but unless they have a ticket they can't get there. Also Secretary Delacourt is creating antiimmigration laws for her bennefit.
Transhumanism: When Max gets the Powered exoskeleton fused to his body, he becomes a superhuman who has all these extraordinary weapons which for me greatlysupports the belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations.
Health Care: The people in Elysium use Med-Bays to keep them from getting ill. Max's friend Frey (Alice Braga) has a daughter named Matida (Emma Tremblay) who is dying of Leukemia and she needs a Med-Bay to cure her and I think it shows how important Health Care is, not just to people who live a good life but to those who live a life in poor countries and how it is important to them.
Class Issues: Everyone in Elysium is divided by Class, the rich live in great comfort and luxury on Elysium and the people on Earth live in poverty, poor living conditions, ruins, policed by ruthless androids and the film questions weather these two classes of people can coexist together.
Writer/director Neill Blomkamp's direction is stylish, the cinematography is beautiful, the special effects are tremendous and fantastic, the score by newcomer Ryan Amon is magnificent, the production design is stupendous; Elysium is a glossy, shinny and polished stanford torus esque, high tech, utopian metropolis free of war, crime, poverty where the citizens live and idylic life of luxary with flying cars all of this contrasts beautifully with Earth which is polluted, delapithated, grimy and rundown. The citizens struggle to get by on a These different settings compliment each other beautifully and feel like two parts of a fully realised world.
The costumes are beautiful, the make up is rich, the action scenes are gripping, exciting, well choreographed and expertly staged, the stunts are terrific, the tension is killing, the props are immaculate, the guns, Max's exoskeleton and the vehicles all feel tactile.
the sound effects are spot on and the ending was great.
The acting is terrific, Matt Damon is great here, he's a simple factory worker who's experienced a horrible accident and goes through through a big physical and mental change. Damon brings his usual everyman charm and charisma to the role
The acting is terrific, Matt Damon is great here, he's a simple factory worker who's experienced a horrible accident and goes through through a big physical and mental change. Damon brings his usual everyman charm and charisma to the role
and he's a poor man which makes him really sympathetic and you really get involved in his character and you really care about him. Plus he's fantastic in the action scenes: You can tell he's doing a lot of his own stunts, some of his best since The Bourne Trilogy.
Jodi Foster, however, is a lot more uneven playing Secretary Delacourt. She brings the pompus, treacherous, arrogant along an obviously dubed French accent.
On the other hand, Sharlto Copley steals the show playing Agent Kruger, Delacourt's henchman. His very screen presence makes you tremble. He's a pretty nasty, so slimey and gross. He's the character you love to hate. An unhinged, pychopathic killing machine with no regard for human life taking pleasure in dishing out death and destruction
Alice Braga is very sympathetic in her role. Like Max, she's a poor person, but I think she's more desperate character. She's a single mom who has a daughter who's dying of Lukemia, she's a friend of Mx and the two of them have a great backstory that really help us care about them and hope they'll make it out ok.
Also the rest of the cast is great.
Elysium is an exceptional sci fi fil, one of those rare films you can get really involved in and a sign that Neill Blomkamp is on a bit of a role, 4.5/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
Jodi Foster, however, is a lot more uneven playing Secretary Delacourt. She brings the pompus, treacherous, arrogant along an obviously dubed French accent.
On the other hand, Sharlto Copley steals the show playing Agent Kruger, Delacourt's henchman. His very screen presence makes you tremble. He's a pretty nasty, so slimey and gross. He's the character you love to hate. An unhinged, pychopathic killing machine with no regard for human life taking pleasure in dishing out death and destruction
Alice Braga is very sympathetic in her role. Like Max, she's a poor person, but I think she's more desperate character. She's a single mom who has a daughter who's dying of Lukemia, she's a friend of Mx and the two of them have a great backstory that really help us care about them and hope they'll make it out ok.
Also the rest of the cast is great.
Elysium is an exceptional sci fi fil, one of those rare films you can get really involved in and a sign that Neill Blomkamp is on a bit of a role, 4.5/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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