Once more, the Latin America region got dibs on this film early. As a fan of Blomkamp since his advertising days, it's great to see him succeeding on the Hollywood front. Let me start by saying, Star Trek 3 should go to him. Reason? Elysium is filled with tension, cultural rhetoric, emotional storytelling, evocative visuals and all the elements that made D9 a hit. From script to execution, Blomkamp traverses the emotional spectrum brilliantly in his concise and gut-wrenching storytelling.
Matt Damon captures the essence of struggle through his character, Max. With EARTH now a slum, a ghetto to be exact, the parallels of segregation are well drawn up when juxtaposed to D9. Blomkamp's political premise on society, the ills exacted and sociological tissue like health care, caste systems and immigration, all play out remarkably well, and at a sweet pace.
Max's protracted saga sees him infected with a cancer and now has to journey to the utopia off the the planet, Elysium, to heal his ailment. It pans out like an Image comic and that's a big plus. The journey is such a riveting torniquet with the SFX and action sequences, just as, if not better than D9. The story's compact as Max grafts kidnapping and impersonation into his repertoire, all in the name of survival. The sense of impending doom is constantly thrust into the viewer's face and when Sharlto Copley unleashes his cold, calculated and maniacal whims, you're left mindblown. He's vicious and threatening in an unconventional manner but it works...very much so. He adds strong structure to an already sound plot, and Jodie Foster, well...she has the fundamentals to be such a powerful villain or temptress, I'm shocked Marvel hasn't tagged her.
She's intimidating and impressionable on the viewer, as she sics her dogs on the downtrodden. Think 'Inside Man' but with more gusto. Max's journey and his reasons for survival touch the human core, and the obstacles he encounters, add heavy substance. The individual stars add so much chemistry, especially in solo scenes. I'd love to see a spinoff off this universe, not because Blomkamp set it up as such, but because there's so much drama and real-world comparisons to be drawn. It's never preachy and Damon's earnest performance wins. Foster and Copley are much more than added bonus, and Blomkamp continues to marvel. Pun intended.
RATING = 4.5/5