Elysium sees the world in 2154 as it has changed vastly, with Earth a wasteland and only home to the poor, with those who can afford the luxury, living on Elysium, a brand new space station world with no disease and maintaining a fruitful way of living.
On Earth, Max (Matt Damon) is looking to live as best as he can working an honest job, but when he is exposed to extreme radiation poisoning, he has little choice but to find a way up to Elysium for a cure. His only way of doing so is doing one last illegal job as he dons an electronic suit of armour that gives him super strength and is the key to his survival. Unfortunately, on his trail are Secretary Of Defence Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hired bounty hunter Kruger (Sharlto Copley)...
There's no denying that Blomkamp is certainly at home when it comes to the sci-fi genre. His imagery and focus on an engaging story within a ravaged world is once again at the pinnacle, and with Elysium he is allowed to broaden his horizons in comparison to the slums of South Africa in District 9. That extra allowance is arguably a welcome sight, with the film among one of the most beautiful sights to behold this year, but at times it does feel a little too big.
While the spectacle is for the most part impressive, Blomkamp's casting is a mixed bag. Damon is undeniably brilliant in the leading man mould, as ever, his character evolving from helpless citizen to the one man who can make a difference is definitely what a blockbuster of this magnitude requires. So too is the villain of the piece, Copley, whose rather soft-hearted accent is quickly shunned by a truly intimidating, blood-lusting individual whose dangerous motives and sheer anger easily strikes that level of fear into the audience that we expect.
On the flip side, both William Fichtner and, more surprisingly, Jodie Foster bring the bad, with wooden performances and, in Foster's case, an awful accent. At times, in fact, it almost appears that Foster's dialogue is being dubbed somehow, slightly perplexing the audience.
Those negatives aside, Elysium is certainly an applaudable second entry from Blomkamp and continues his strength in the genre, especially when it comes to thrilling set pieces. Any film that contains guns that simply evaporate people and a brilliantly poised grenade explosion to the face should be worthy of accolades.
Film rating: 4 out of 5 F's
Great review Thom. Not a perfect piece of sci-fi, but still a credible one that’s fun and quick when it needs to be.
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