In a not so distant future, the earth is slowly crumbling due to the overpopulation of the planet. The solution was to build a orbiting community known as Elysium that is inhabited by the wealthy. If you aren't wealthy you are stuck on earth, with whatever is left. Elysium is equipped with medical pods that can cure anything in one sitting, and due to its orbital location it's near impossible to get into unless your a citizen. Earth is full of crime and poverty, and is given little to no medical attention and are patrolled by a robotic police force implemented by the leaders of Elysium. Our protagonist is Max (Matt Damon), and due to a freak accident is in need of medical attention to survive. In turn his childhood friend Frey (Alice Braga) has a daughter who is also in need of medical attention that can only be found on Elysium. With a metal exoskeleton attached to his body giving him heightened abilities; Max must get onto Elysium, overthrow its leader Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and avoid the bounty hunter hired to kill him (Sharlto Copley's Kruger).
While the premise of the film is very interesting and Blomkamp is extremely talented, this film felt very flat to me. The world building that Blomkamp does is spectacular and the film has very good special effects and above average action sequences. However the liberal side of Blomkamp is ultimately this films downfall. I am not a political person, I don't enjoy politics and I can't stand the debates in which some people get into. However, I love a director that has something to say and implements some intriguing ideas throughout their films. It needs to be done tastefully though and for me this film was very heavy handed in its approached. Elysium is preachy, and intense body explosions every 5 minutes doesn't cover it up. The fact that the California area of poverty was 99.9% Latinos, and the inhabitance of Elysium was 100% Caucasians is enough to feel heavy handed. However, we are also given a obvious sci-fi boarder hopping scene and the all rich people are terrible theme. I love what your trying to do Neill but lets be subtle about it and make a good film first, there is no need for such battery. It was also severely disappointing to see someone get his first shot at big budget film making and deliver such a conventional story. He was given the money to do something special, and instead turned what could have been a complex and thought provoking story, into a conventional action flick. Its in a way a very polished film, that teeters within the realm of unimaginative action story telling.
What Elysium does do well is give us technology we haven't seen on film, despite every death being in the form of a body explosion. It felt like it could have fit well with a Halo movie. Acting wise Damon did an solid job and that is where my compliments will end. Sharlto Copley is a great actor and he has an undeniable presence in the film as a villain, unfortunately his accent was enigmatic, and had me often leaning forward in hopes to understand better. His high pitch voiced just wasn't intimidating and that hurt him. As for Jodie Foster I couldn't stand her regal accent. She was extremely poor throughout the entire film and I patiently waited for her to be off the screen. The end was also extremely disappointing and felt like a cop-out to me. I will not go into detail because it is a spoiler free review. I appreciate the effort and this film won't tarnish his reputation (which has been announced as Chappie), I just feel a big budget film is not what he is ready for.
Verdict: 2 out of 5
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