All movies have flaws and “Elysium” is no different, so let’s start with the good stuff.
The movie is a visual marvel to watch. Blomkamp, the director, has an eye for artistic detail that in my opinion is hands down Top-5. Whether depicting gritty conditions or glossy futuristic transports, aliens or technology in general, he clearly has a vision when he takes on a project, and for that we should be grateful. Let’s face it, this is only his second movie, so who knows what he’s got up his sleeve next? “Elysium” is visually stunning on just about every level and angle, and he moves the story along at a brisk, but not too fast pace that keeps the viewer engrossed from start to finish.
Matt Damon plays his character well and handles his action scenes as you might expect. He doesn’t do anything ground breaking, but he’s not hard to watch, either. But even though he’s the main protagonist, he’s not the one you’ll be thinking about after the movie is over...
Sharlto Copley owns that honor, and he delivers a character that steals every second of his screen time he’s given. Sadly, we don’t get any back story on his character, but what we do get is memorable, and he’s another reason for the price of admission. Seriously, he has some of the best lines and moments throughout the entire movie.
As for Jodie Foster’s role, she delivers a character completely cold, but memorable as well, even though she’s pretty much one-dimensional. She speaks with an accent that makes you sit up and listen intently, but beyond that delivery her character could have been played by anyone. She was good for what she was given, but she wasn’t given enough.
Recapping the good, “Elysium” is a visually stunning movie, with solid performances from Damon, Copley and Foster, and moves along at a pace that holds your attention throughout.
Now let’s drop the other shoe and see what we’ve got. Whoa…is that athlete’s foot? Dude, you might want to schedule an appointment with your doctor.
In my opinion, Neil Blomkamp, the writer, didn’t think this one all the way through, and the story suffers for it—immensely. Recently, Blomkamp and Damon were asked if they were trying to send a message with the movie, had an agenda, if you will and both denied it. But make no mistake; Blomkamp did have an agenda, which is fine, except that he glossed over a few other pertinent details in his story, choosing rather to wear social issues such as universal healthcare, no borders, and all citizens should be equal on the sleeve of his story.
I’ve read or watched three other reviews about this movie, with all three hailing it as the best, most thoughtful movie of the year or close to it, but I disagree. The problem with “Elysium” is that it waves hot topic issues in your face, like universal healthcare, everyone should be equal and open borders—three topics that are not wholly accepted and to a large degree understood by the general public. And it does so by seriously glossing over the “down side” ramifications of said ideas, like who pays for it all, where does the food come from to sustain the downtrodden populace of Earth, along with a quiet, yet noticeable thump-against-your-head hint that Spanish has become the predominant language of Los Angeles (just about everyone in LA speaks Spanish, including Damon, and it appears to be the main language on all signs). Then on the flip side, Blomkamp makes those living on the well to do Elysium appear apathetic toward the plight of the humans still living on earth, and in some cases going so far as to appear evil toward the “lower class.” Stereotyping, anyone?
I’m all for tackling current social issues in futuristic sci-fi movies, but it works best (for me) when a little decorum and well thought out common sense is used. In “Elysium,” it’s straight up “The have’s” are bad, while the “have nots” deserve better, regardless of what they bring (or don’t) to the table. As an example—and I’m at a loss as to why they went down this road—Damon’s character is an ex-con with an apparently lengthy history of theft and assault. He’s a good guy now though, having put his past behind him, but the mean ol’ robot police force won’t let him forget the error of his ways. As a result, he’s stuck in a craptastic job that he should feel lucky to have (according to his boss), which brings up another point. Early in the story, a group of guys are heckling Damon about going to work, and Damon cracks a joke back at them, “Yeah, I’ve got a job, that’s hilarious.” I won’t go so far as to say it appears that most don’t have jobs, but the scene seems to imply that, which begs the question: How is everyone getting their food, paying for housing, and getting clothes? This is never touched on, not even casually in any way, shape or form.
Another issue I had with the story is conveniences, such as a beat up Damon crawling to a hospital back door, and while he’s laying there his childhood friend, who’s a doctor now, just happened to be leaving at that exact moment. Later, he begs her to help him, knowing full well if she does she’ll risk getting into all kinds of trouble, but after she finally relents she asks him the next day to help her daughter and he refuses, claiming it’s too dangerous for them to be together. What? Oh, but it wasn’t too dangerous for them to be together when HE needed help?
Another problem with the film is Damon himself. It seems like since starring in the Bourne series, Matt’s career has gravitated almost exclusively toward parts portraying himself as an ever day man having to fight the system or establishment against all odds, but the shtick is growing old. In the “Green Zone” he just wanted the truth. In “The Adjustment Bureau” he went against divine intervention to be with the one he loved. And now, in “Elysium” he’s tasked with breaking down an established border system and unleashing free healthcare for all.
But as I eluded earlier, the biggest problem with “Elysium” is how it takes current social issues today and only looks at them from one perspective, with zero time afforded the other side of the issues or even explained away in some haphazard manner. It gets so absurd that at one defining moment, someone says, “Get her to the med-table!” Another says, “It won’t work, she doesn’t have an ID!” The first guy then says, “I’m going to fix that.” And he does, by downloading a program that makes everyone equal in the blink of an eye. Wait…do what? “Elysium” so mishandles the reality of today’s issues by painting one perspective in lavish colour, while glossing over or completely ignoring the relevance and reality of the flip side that it quickly goes from being a visually slick SCIENCE fiction tale to a poke-you-in-the-eye FANTASY fiction dream that basically says: Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had access to the same stuff, for free?
In closing, I like “Elysium” and guarantee it’ll be added to my DVD/Blu-ray collection when it comes out. But what had the potential to be a slick sci-fi flick tackling a social issue staring us down today and possibly providing some kind of insight as to how we might be able to resolve it just turned out to be someone else’s fantasy on how they think the world should be. I was entertained, but the issues addressed in the movie were depicted in such a one-sided heavy handed way, and then solved in such a glaringly thoughtless manner that it was hard for me to get comfortable in the film, from the second act to the end.
I really wanted to like “Elysium,” and I did from an entertainment perspective. But Blomkamp’s brilliance and style was ultimately smothered by an overreaching attempt to simplify current social issues that will take much more than a quick download to fix.
“Elysium” gets 2.5 out of 5 stars, basically for not being honest with its subject matter.
I’m Citizen…