Director Neill Blomkamp tackles the issues of poverty,
immigration and privilege in Elysium; a solid, if, unfocused movie that starts
off well, but succumbs to being an action movie in the second act. The concept
of Elysium is a clever one, sort of like our current political and financial
situations.
Set in 2154, the
well-off are on-board a satellite, built by the Armadyne Corporation, that is
separated from the one on our weary planet. Earth is now an abandoned wasteland
for the ones not so well-off. The protagonist is Max, played by Matt Damon, who
used to be a criminal in his years and later reformed. His dream was to make it
on-board the satellite with his friend Frey, played by Alice Braga.
Unfortunately, one day on the job changed his life forever, after exposed to a
dose of radiation at an Armadyne factory. With only five days to live, getting
to the heavily-guarded satellite just went on Max's bucket list; but, in order
to infiltrate it, he would need a lot of help underground from a group of
hackers, who then equip Max with the exoskeleton to defeat the droids and people who
patrol the planet.
One of the most
intriguing things about this film, is how the Immigration angle
as it relates to people of earth being reduce to "earthlings" and not
just people. There's one scene in the film, that shows the disconnect between
the two classes, in which, wealthy people are in fear of their own opposition,
while the poor are looking to heal family members or have a place for shelter.
Blomkamp brilliantly captures this conflict as if this were a real-life
struggle. But, in Secretary Delacourt's world, the small are nothing more than
peasants on a pristine world who serve no purpose but to rot on planet Earth.
Jodie Foster's Delacourt is a woman with no conscience and cares about her
kind. She'll do everything to gain absolute power, especially with the help of
sleeper agent "Krueger," played by District 9's Sharlto Copley. Alas,
this is where the movie becomes a bit too ambitious for its own good. After a
well-paced first half, the movie takes a hard turn into the absurd, with
characters making last-second decisions giving the entire story a neglected
feeling. And, it's too bad what starts off as a well-paced movie that is held
together by the strength of its story until it’s not anymore.
While, it was fun
seeing stuff blown up, yet, it extracted some enjoyment from me. Compared to
the bombastic climax of District 9, Elysium is on par with that film, but
Elysium suffers more because, despite the heavy-handedness of District 9, its
Apartheid allegory felt intact, while, this movie loses its momentum
after act one is over. The sudden plot changes really hurt the subplot of who
controls the plutocratic land. And, although, the action sequences hold your
interest, they do little to advance an intriguing premise. The 99% movement
needs better messaging.
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