Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley
By 2154, a space station known as Elysium orbits the
Earth. Its human inhabitants enjoy a utopian existence free from violence,
crime and disease. However, down on Earth, pollution and poverty run rampant.
After being given a terminal amount of radiation poisoning, Max De Costa
(Damon) has five days to reach Elysium for a cure, having to take on work for a
local gang in order to travel past the patrols guarding Elysium. However, Max
finds himself the target of a ruthless assassin known as Kruger (Copley) and an
Elysian senator (Foster) intent on taking over Elysium.
In 2009, South African film-maker, Neill Blomkamp broke
through into the mainstream with his politicised sci-fi action film, District
9. Now, with Elysium, Blomkamp returns to similar stylistic territory, but
invigorates it with enough energy and originality to make it an engaging watch.
Whilst District 9 dealt with prejudice (and a not-too-veiled allusion to South
Africa's former policies of Apartheid) , Elysium deals with economic disparity.
Not an uncommon subject matter for science-fiction (as a major theme it dates
back at least as far as 1927 with Metropolis), the real-world parallels are
also still rather clear, both in terms of South African politics and in the
wider world, especially given the current financial climate.
The film also has bares comparisons, deliberate or not,
with THX-1138 (1971), Avatar (2009) the body horror of director David
Cronenberg and perhaps most clearly with Blade Runner (1982); Max's desperate,
and often violent, quest to sustain his quickly diminishing life, mirroring
that of Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty in Ridley Scott's classic. Matt Damon captures
the panic of such a predicament ably, whilst Sharlto Copley (a former producer
turned actor who also broke through with District 9) hams it up as a killer
playing his South African accent so thick, you could spread it on toast. Jodie
Foster also gives a lively performance, but seems stuck somewhere between
American and French with no clear nationality in either direction (perhaps
intentionally). The film is so loud and noisy that it does throw itself into
the ridiculous constantly. But it's also delivered with enough intelligence and
panache that you can go with the madness and end up pretty impressed by the
whole thing.
Next time, Lily Collins plays a young girl who discovers
a secret realm where half-angels battle demons in The Mortal Instruments: City
Of Bones.
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