Bullet Points: Elysium (2013)
Director Neill Blomkamp has a really funny name. Now I do say that with all due respect to the man because he has had some really successful and and enlightening science fiction pictures. District 9 was an absolute banger and while I didn’t go crazy over Chappie, it definitely had that look that Blomkamp has become notorious for. Maybe the fact that I didn’t love Chappie was why it took me so long to get to Elysium? Also, Matt Damon is in it….
Synopsis: In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
- The Future: It’s the year 2154 and the world totally sucks. Max (Matt Damon) goes from a young orphan boy with dreams to a grown up Matt Damon bald man working a terrible job in a polluted, diseased, and vastly overpopulated Earth. The goal for everyone is to somehow get rich and privileged enough to make their way up to the spinning space station called Elysium.
- Jodie Foster sighting: Hey did you know that Jodie Foster plays Delacourt, some sort of head of security for the wealthy folks of Elysium. I’m sure her title was much more grand than that but we see her at work as she uses extreme violence and that stern look she has to take out some unwanted immigrants threatening to escape the awful Earth and land on the immaculate landscape of Elysium. Boom, they’re dead!
- Bad day at work: Workplace accidents are never good. Especially when they turn one of the employees into a man just waiting to die. Poor Max’s only hope now lies on that dizzying structure in the sky.
- Everyone needs a friend like Spider: I feel like if I make it through my entire life without having one friend by the name of Spider than I’ll have failed. It just so happens that the Spider here is able to get things and do things that a man deeply connected with the criminal underbelly would be able to do. Spider eventually agrees to help Max with his new condition under the agreement that Max will also do some criminal shit for him first.
- Exo-Damon: Max is fitted with an exo-skeleton of sorts and ordered to take a citizen of Elysium hostage. It’s none other than William Fichtner! They get far more than they bargained for when the info in his head makes them all very wanted men. That’s when we get to meet Sharlto Copley’s Kruger. A mercenary under the employ of Jodie Foster and one that has gotten her in deep water due to his unorthodox methods. Let’s just say that Max’s suit comes in handy.
- Helping an old flame: Like any child raised in a futuristic orphanage, Max deep feelings of lonliness and wonders about his place in the world. He also has a little friend that he reconnects with as adults. They always talked about getting to Elysium when they were kids and now Max has the ability to get her there and just maybe to save her daughter in the process.
- Going the distance: The final chapter of the film is dedicated to the awesome action that we’ve come to know from our buddy Neill. Max punches, kicks, and space guns anyone threatening to get into his way. It’s also a big opportunity for Copley’s Kruger to make himself into a more perfect killing machine and anytime we get to see Sharlto screaming at people in his native tongue is a win.
The Verdict: Elysium had the chance to be something really special but just missed, in my opinion. The performances were there and the action was top notch, but I found myself far more drawn to the story of the world they live in compared to the characters themselves. I actually thought that Damon’s Max wasn’t that interesting and never really expected him to get the happy ending he deserved. The bads on the other hand, were something special. Jodie Foster is always great in any role and really feels like she wields great power here. Copley looks and sounds like a madman which fits the bit perfectly. I would say that I enjoyed the film more than Chappie, but definitely less than District 9. All in all, I’m still glad I watched it.
