Review of 'Elysium'

elysium.jpg In the year 2154 there are two classes of people: Those that live on a polluted, over populated earth and the wealthy that live aboard an orbiting space ring habitat, Elysium, filed with beautiful gardens, mansions and amazing medical devices that cure any disease.

Max (Matt Damon) is a worker in a factory constructing the robots that are used as police keeping the general population in line. An industrial accident exposes him to a lethal dose of radiation giving him only five days to live - He knows that a trip to Elysium might be his only hope so he goes to a local warlord who promises him safe passage if he will do one thing for him…Max agrees and is surgically attached to a metal exoskeleton to give him the strength he will need.

Delacourt (Jodie Foster) is the iron-cold administrator of Elysium who will stop at nothing to protect it including shooting down several shuttles from earth trying to transport people to the ring. Facing a backlash from other council members she seeks to become president by asking the head of the company that Max works for, John Carlyle (William Fichtner) to rewrite the computer code for Elysium to let her become president.

I was a big fan of District 9 and in Elysium Neill Blomkamp has made things much simpler with the separation between the haves and have-nots extreme. There is little subtlety here. The action is very much the same…Violent and in your face at all times. Damon plays the hero in his typical style - Unemotional for the most part. Though this is undoubtedly an issue, the biggest complaint I would probably have about Elysium is that it does not take it's time…The action is frenetic and never stops. The short running time is something also to do with this. I would have preferred a bit more character development and exploring the political situation to add to the depth of this movie. As it is things are quite one-dimensional.

Enjoyable and wonderful eye candy with an interesting story. Not the deepest.

Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2013-08-31


Directed by: Neill Blomkamp

Studio: TriStar Pictures

Year: 2013

Length: 109 minutes

Genre: Science Fiction

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/


Other reviewed films by Neill Blomkamp: