Elysium Movie Review

T he year is 2154 and the divide between the rich and the poor has drastically rifted apart, a message that director Neil Blomkamp showcased in his last directional role in the popular, gritty take on a Sci-fi movie that was District 9.

The gap couldn’t be further apart, the wealthy live on Elysium, a state of the art space station in orbit of the earth that resembles the closest thing to paradise as you could get. The rest of humanity lives on earth, an over populated, polluted and very desolate environment that creates a very believable and realistic world around the main story.

Matt Damon plays Max, an ex-car thief turned factory worker that has always fantasised of going to Elysium, but after sustaining an accident at work he is diagnosed with days to live and this all sets into motion a plan to get to Elysium. Though this involves a metal suit being screwed into his body he still accepts this painful upgraded to his physic in order to survive his radioactive encounter by getting to this space station. The cure? A med bay that is this pod shaped machine that can cure any illness. Delacourt (Jodie Foster), the defence minister on Elysium, shows early on that it isn’t a modest task to get into this Halo-esc space station by ordering that the civilian ships trying to gain admission to Elysium air space be shot down in the opening segment of the movie.

This is only the second film from the directing hand of Blomkamp and it’s clear that he feels strongly about the real world separation in class in today’s society. District 9 used the South African slums to present this message of separation in society and this is implemented into Elysium. This movie uses the social gap and lack of medical care available to the deprived to show problems that take place in today’s world.

This time Blomkamp’s second film is set in Los Angles, the world is just as gritty as has a clear resemblance to that of District 9. Earth is over overpopulated and ravaged by disease with robot police roaming the landscape inflicting their harsh and brutal justice at will.

This is a Sci-fi movie, but not one people may be expecting. The majority of the film is set on earth with only a small proportion taking place on Elysium. The world still looks fantastic, the gritty futuristic landscape immerses you in a believable world with the other technological and more perfectly looking environment (that on Elysium) being equally beautiful.

The lead in this film, Max, is a likable character and is used as the test dummy to showcase Blomkamp’s harsh world to begin with; his arm is broken by a police bot for simply making a sarcastic joke. Max appears vulnerable to begin with but there is a character arc in this movie and eventually you witness this transformation of Max turning into the Bourne of the future. Though this isn’t an action film as such, there are still action sequences that take place after Max’s metal suit is screwing into his body. Damon’s performance is believable and it is entertaining to watch his character arc progress through the movie.

Delacourt is this evil and manipulative woman yet still doesn’t feel like the main antagonist in this film. This crown is awarded to her henchman, Kruger (Sharlto Copley). Though Foster’s performance is good in creating this villain her character doesn’t appear that of a challenging role to play, she always feels undercut by her henchman and had she had a more of a physical role in this movie, rather than at the end of a phone to Kruger, then perhaps you would feel a more menacing depth to her character.

Sharlto Copley’s villain on the other hand is fantastic. He isn’t a typical villain yet still being a violent hitman. You really feel as though this desolate atmosphere has bled into Kruger’s soul, shaping his personality into a cruel intimidating figure. Sharlto Copley is the stand out by a mile in this movie (that’s not to say Damon or anyone else didn’t do a good job). The transformation from his character in District 9 (a vulnerable and puny office worker to begin with, though his character arc changes over the course of that movie), to that in Elysium is impressive. Before going into this movie I was sceptical to whether casting Sharlto Copley as a villain was a great idea but it has proved a worthy decision.

This isn’t supposed to be a follow on from District 9 yet the comparison is inevitable for people who have seen it. District 9 was hailed as a unique great Sci-fi movie, but where District 9’s unique story felt a breath of fresh air Elysium still only feels like a good summer action film. It still doesn’t quite live up to Blomkamp’s first movie, but it still shouldn’t be missed. Matt Damon in a robotic suit acting all Bourne like is a recipe for success, with the fantastic Shalto Copley’s villainy added to the mix then its inevitable that you will feel satisfied when leaving Elysium.  

Click here to Pre-order Elysium
Click here to Buy District 9