http://www.korsgaardscommentary.com/2013/08/elysium.html
Few names in cinematic science fiction carried as much weight after just a single film as Neill Blomkamp, whom at the ripe age of twenty-nine, took the world by storm with the movie District 9. Despite a small budget and next to no exposure, District 9 became one of the most talked about science fiction films in recent memory thanks to a combination of talented cinematography, special effects that better than those in films with ten times the budget, and a story with biting wit and relentless satire that made it one of the most powerful films of the last decade. Needless to say, everyone expected great things from Blomkamp in the future, and today brings us his long awaited follow-up movie, Elysium.
[http://www.korsgaardscommentary.com/2013/08/elysium.html/jnove1ow0r5xb]
Elysium quickly earned a lot of attention in its own rights for the highly promoted set designs and special effects, which looked like something out of the fever dreams of Arthur C. Clarke, and made many people, myself included, put this movie immediately on their watch lists. Of course, like many others, I was discouraged as details of the plot leaked out, which looked to be yet another Hollywood-manufactured hammer-and-sickle parable, which are not only a dime a dozen, to say nothing of the low bar set by other post-Earth sci-fi films this year, but are about as dead on arrival as the Iron Curtain, to say nothing of laughably hypocritical given the movie?s lead actor Matt Damon alone is worth $65 million. That said, the excitement over the potential look of the film one out over my cynicism over the potential message, and I went with some friends to see Elysium on opening night.
So, is has the South African wunderkind delivered another spectacular sci-fi satire for the ages, or do we have a bloated pie in the sky ready to come crashing down the Earth? Look to the stars my dear readers, and join me as I set out to review Elysium.
The year is 2154, and the Earth is overpopulated, stricken by both disease and poverty, and left in a state of near anarchy. Those who were able long able fled to an orbital space station by the name of Elysium, whose inhabitants live in a state of near utopian luxury, and mean to keep it that way by literally blowing up any ship that approaches from Earth. It?s into this society literally stratified into the stratosphere that one such Earthling, Max, finds himself drawn into conflict with, following a lethal dose of radiation that can only be cured in Elysium. After implanting a suit of mechanized armor, Max sets out to find a way to get to Elysium, and nothing will stand in his way to do it.
As I?ll touch on more talking about the special effects and themes of the film, Elysium in many ways is a throwback to the science fiction films of pre-Star Wars era, where we see a discontented average joe protagonist who, driven to extremes by the a strange set of circumstances, comes to clash with the society he lives. While District 9 was also like this in a sense, Elysium returns to a lot of the tropes of 70s science fiction to a much larger extent, and this actually works to the movies favor to an extent ? it?s been so long since movies successfully emulated movies like Logan?s Run or Soylent Green that it?s oddly refreshing to see it again. That said, while there?s very little new ground tread here, from start to finish, the movie manages to keep you absorbed and entertained, even if it rarely puts you on the edge of your seat.
One of the movies major flaws though, was the casting, which given the nature of the film, needed actors who had a real force of prescience or charisma. So it?s a shame that the lead actor playing the protagonist Max is Matt Damon, perhaps the blandest actor they could have chosen, who, true to fashion, feels like a non-prescience from start to finish, and it hinders the film a great deal. Even more so is Jodi Foster, as the movie?s villain, in what may be one of the year?s worst performances, and is a powerful reminder of why Jodi Foster doesn?t have an acting career anymore, as she struggles to even stick to a single poorly put on accent, let alone come across anything more than pitiful in her time on screen. William Fichtner is similarly bland as arms mogul John Carlyle, through he?s more tolerable here than his turn in The Lone Ranger.
Oddly enough, the performances that save the film come from the smaller, lesser known actors, who put far more effort and detail into their performances, ranging from Alice Braga?s Frey to Wagner Moura?s crimeboss hacker Spider. Of coruse, just like in District 9, it?s Sharlto Copley, who steals the show as the madcap mad half-mechanical mercenary Kruger ? from his offbeat mannerisms, obviously twisted mental state, and almost gleeful villainy, Copley?s performance here is well worth witnessing here alone, if only as further proof he should be given far more leading roles in the future.
Of course, the other reason Elysium has drawn notice since the beginning is the cinematography, especially the set design, which once again, was a throwback to earlier science fiction films, most of all the design and detail of the orbital space colony known as Elysium. It?s literally been years since we?ve seen this much stunning detail given to a space habitat in a movie, and it?s one of my biggest complaints about the film is we don?t spend nearly enough time there ? I could have spent another hour or two drooling over the curving colony ring or the entwining corridors of Elysium, and it?s of little surprise that the climax of the film that takes place on Elysium is the highlight of the film. Of course, the other reason for that is the various action pieces and details given to little things like the design of the various robots or weapons, all based on hard science fiction and all look shockingly real ? for whatever flaws the movie has, it?s undeniably one of the best designed films in recent memory, and so far, aside from Pacific Rim, is the year?s best looking movie.
That said, the set designs and plot aren?t the only throwbacks to 1970s science fiction, and perhaps the biggest throwback of all would be the themes and political issues the movie touches on, which it does with mixed results. The biggest success is that it can be interpreted in several different ways, and the group I saw the movie with had several opinions on it, ranging from a statement on healthcare/immigration, yet another ?rich people take advantage of poor people? movie, or in my view, a statement on relations between the first world and the third world, which is serves quite effectively as. The other big strength is has is that, compared to MANY films that try to sell a message, it manages to be subtle with it, and perhaps more importantly, handles it somewhat competently ? I?ve pointed out in the past how this has crippled movies from In Time to The Dark Knight Rises, so it?s something of a relief Elysium manages to be more subtle than Occupy Wall Street.
That said, there are some critical flaws with the thematic approach as well ? perhaps the biggest is that the world of the movie, like the other listed examples, doesn?t really work as a functional dystopia. Take for example the plot device of these healing chambers that can cure everything from cancer to a gunshot wound to the face with the click of a button ? we?re given no reason why they?re only on Elysium, or why access to them is limited to Elysium, or why no one on Earth has one of their own, which does hinder the story every time this particular plot device gets called upon. The other is that, despite the obvious destitution of the future Earth, the society never comes across as distinctly dystopian ? in fact, aside from the obvious poverty, there?s nothing too hellish about it, and even the crime lords are downright pleasant. While the movie certainly makes Elysium look like a paradise, it fails to make Earth seem like a true hell hole that people seemingly need to escape from, which in any dystopia, ranging from ones that eat people or lobotomize dissidents or even segregate aliens, is a must for the film to function.
Overall, the movie certainly isn?t bad ? is made for an enjoyable retro sci-fi adventure that serves quite well as an evening?s entertainment. That said, there?s no denying it falls short of both the massive potential of the film and the undeniably talented creator that spawned it. If the movie has had a more talented cast, or had spent more time polishing the script or themes of the story, this could have been far much more than just an above average sci-fi thriller. That said, at the end of the day, I?d still recommend taking a trip to see Elysium for you, if only to see Sharlto Copley chew the scenery and Niell Blomkamp?s finely crafted world ? just don?t come expecting anything revolutionary.
Few names in cinematic science fiction carried as much weight after just a single film as Neill Blomkamp, whom at the ripe age of twenty-nine, took the world by storm with the movie District 9. Despite a small budget and next to no exposure, District 9 became one of the most talked about science fiction films in recent memory thanks to a combination of talented cinematography, special effects that better than those in films with ten times the budget, and a story with biting wit and relentless satire that made it one of the most powerful films of the last decade. Needless to say, everyone expected great things from Blomkamp in the future, and today brings us his long awaited follow-up movie, Elysium.
[http://www.korsgaardscommentary.com/2013/08/elysium.html/jnove1ow0r5xb]
Elysium quickly earned a lot of attention in its own rights for the highly promoted set designs and special effects, which looked like something out of the fever dreams of Arthur C. Clarke, and made many people, myself included, put this movie immediately on their watch lists. Of course, like many others, I was discouraged as details of the plot leaked out, which looked to be yet another Hollywood-manufactured hammer-and-sickle parable, which are not only a dime a dozen, to say nothing of the low bar set by other post-Earth sci-fi films this year, but are about as dead on arrival as the Iron Curtain, to say nothing of laughably hypocritical given the movie?s lead actor Matt Damon alone is worth $65 million. That said, the excitement over the potential look of the film one out over my cynicism over the potential message, and I went with some friends to see Elysium on opening night.
So, is has the South African wunderkind delivered another spectacular sci-fi satire for the ages, or do we have a bloated pie in the sky ready to come crashing down the Earth? Look to the stars my dear readers, and join me as I set out to review Elysium.
The year is 2154, and the Earth is overpopulated, stricken by both disease and poverty, and left in a state of near anarchy. Those who were able long able fled to an orbital space station by the name of Elysium, whose inhabitants live in a state of near utopian luxury, and mean to keep it that way by literally blowing up any ship that approaches from Earth. It?s into this society literally stratified into the stratosphere that one such Earthling, Max, finds himself drawn into conflict with, following a lethal dose of radiation that can only be cured in Elysium. After implanting a suit of mechanized armor, Max sets out to find a way to get to Elysium, and nothing will stand in his way to do it.
As I?ll touch on more talking about the special effects and themes of the film, Elysium in many ways is a throwback to the science fiction films of pre-Star Wars era, where we see a discontented average joe protagonist who, driven to extremes by the a strange set of circumstances, comes to clash with the society he lives. While District 9 was also like this in a sense, Elysium returns to a lot of the tropes of 70s science fiction to a much larger extent, and this actually works to the movies favor to an extent ? it?s been so long since movies successfully emulated movies like Logan?s Run or Soylent Green that it?s oddly refreshing to see it again. That said, while there?s very little new ground tread here, from start to finish, the movie manages to keep you absorbed and entertained, even if it rarely puts you on the edge of your seat.
One of the movies major flaws though, was the casting, which given the nature of the film, needed actors who had a real force of prescience or charisma. So it?s a shame that the lead actor playing the protagonist Max is Matt Damon, perhaps the blandest actor they could have chosen, who, true to fashion, feels like a non-prescience from start to finish, and it hinders the film a great deal. Even more so is Jodi Foster, as the movie?s villain, in what may be one of the year?s worst performances, and is a powerful reminder of why Jodi Foster doesn?t have an acting career anymore, as she struggles to even stick to a single poorly put on accent, let alone come across anything more than pitiful in her time on screen. William Fichtner is similarly bland as arms mogul John Carlyle, through he?s more tolerable here than his turn in The Lone Ranger.
Oddly enough, the performances that save the film come from the smaller, lesser known actors, who put far more effort and detail into their performances, ranging from Alice Braga?s Frey to Wagner Moura?s crimeboss hacker Spider. Of coruse, just like in District 9, it?s Sharlto Copley, who steals the show as the madcap mad half-mechanical mercenary Kruger ? from his offbeat mannerisms, obviously twisted mental state, and almost gleeful villainy, Copley?s performance here is well worth witnessing here alone, if only as further proof he should be given far more leading roles in the future.
Of course, the other reason Elysium has drawn notice since the beginning is the cinematography, especially the set design, which once again, was a throwback to earlier science fiction films, most of all the design and detail of the orbital space colony known as Elysium. It?s literally been years since we?ve seen this much stunning detail given to a space habitat in a movie, and it?s one of my biggest complaints about the film is we don?t spend nearly enough time there ? I could have spent another hour or two drooling over the curving colony ring or the entwining corridors of Elysium, and it?s of little surprise that the climax of the film that takes place on Elysium is the highlight of the film. Of course, the other reason for that is the various action pieces and details given to little things like the design of the various robots or weapons, all based on hard science fiction and all look shockingly real ? for whatever flaws the movie has, it?s undeniably one of the best designed films in recent memory, and so far, aside from Pacific Rim, is the year?s best looking movie.
That said, the set designs and plot aren?t the only throwbacks to 1970s science fiction, and perhaps the biggest throwback of all would be the themes and political issues the movie touches on, which it does with mixed results. The biggest success is that it can be interpreted in several different ways, and the group I saw the movie with had several opinions on it, ranging from a statement on healthcare/immigration, yet another ?rich people take advantage of poor people? movie, or in my view, a statement on relations between the first world and the third world, which is serves quite effectively as. The other big strength is has is that, compared to MANY films that try to sell a message, it manages to be subtle with it, and perhaps more importantly, handles it somewhat competently ? I?ve pointed out in the past how this has crippled movies from In Time to The Dark Knight Rises, so it?s something of a relief Elysium manages to be more subtle than Occupy Wall Street.
That said, there are some critical flaws with the thematic approach as well ? perhaps the biggest is that the world of the movie, like the other listed examples, doesn?t really work as a functional dystopia. Take for example the plot device of these healing chambers that can cure everything from cancer to a gunshot wound to the face with the click of a button ? we?re given no reason why they?re only on Elysium, or why access to them is limited to Elysium, or why no one on Earth has one of their own, which does hinder the story every time this particular plot device gets called upon. The other is that, despite the obvious destitution of the future Earth, the society never comes across as distinctly dystopian ? in fact, aside from the obvious poverty, there?s nothing too hellish about it, and even the crime lords are downright pleasant. While the movie certainly makes Elysium look like a paradise, it fails to make Earth seem like a true hell hole that people seemingly need to escape from, which in any dystopia, ranging from ones that eat people or lobotomize dissidents or even segregate aliens, is a must for the film to function.
Overall, the movie certainly isn?t bad ? is made for an enjoyable retro sci-fi adventure that serves quite well as an evening?s entertainment. That said, there?s no denying it falls short of both the massive potential of the film and the undeniably talented creator that spawned it. If the movie has had a more talented cast, or had spent more time polishing the script or themes of the story, this could have been far much more than just an above average sci-fi thriller. That said, at the end of the day, I?d still recommend taking a trip to see Elysium for you, if only to see Sharlto Copley chew the scenery and Niell Blomkamp?s finely crafted world ? just don?t come expecting anything revolutionary.