Movie Review: Elysium

ELYSIUM USA, 109 mins Dir: Neill Blomkamp Elysium is a 2013 sci-fi flick I saw at the movies a few months ago, so be on the lookout for it on DVD by Christmas! It stars Matt Damon & Jodie Foster. The year is 2154. People are largely divided into 2 classes – the ultra rich, who live on a space-station sort of setup, hovering over Earth which is called Elysium, while the rest of the population inhabit the Earth, which has become a desolate, rubbish ridden & overpopulated planet where sickness & disease are common. They are also overseen & forced to work under robots with little to look forward to in life. Meanwhile on Elysium, the rich live a life of care-free luxury; with everything anybody could want, including a bed in every home which can instantly cure any illness. Anybody trying to reach Elysium illegally however meets with dire consequences. Damon plays Max Costa, who after contracting a lethal dose of radiation in his job, vows to make it to Elysium to cure himself & take childhood friend Frey (Alice Braga) with him. Meanwhile, Secretary Of Defence on Elysium, Jessica Delacourt (an excellent performance by Jodie Foster), is ruling the station with an iron fist in an attempt to gain complete control of Elysium, & is prepared to go to any lengths to stop the likes of Max & his cohorts from making it to the luxury station. So with this background conveyed to the viewer, Elysium really does set itself up well for what should be an excellent film, especially as I’m a big sci-fi fan. But alas it really goes astray in the middle of the film, getting bogged down too much in Max’s internal battles. Also we lose momentum as the film focuses on his relationship with Frey & his agreements he is forced to make with smuggler Spider (Wagner Moura) & his cronies. It is really hard to get behind Max as the films protagonist as well - though Damon does a fairly convincing job in his primary role here, Max is just not that likeable a person. The film does conclude well, as Max & Co finally make it to Elysium for the inevitable showdown. The futuristic special effects & indeed the whole Elysium station comes across very well on the big screen, no expense of the budgets spared on this film. Jodie Foster is also perfectly cast in her role as the ruthless, ice cold, power hungry politician of Elysium who will do anything to maintain the station for the upper class only. Action fans will also not feel left out with plenty to keep them satisfied right throughout the film. To wrap things up, I found Elysium to be a quite an entertaining film, but the thing is that it could have been so much more. Had there been more sympathy for Damon’s character & less distraction in the middle of the film which dragged things down, it would have really made a difference. As it stands, Elysium is only a good sci-fi/action film, instead of a great one. I’m giving this ***