Elysium:
It's the year 2154, and the wealthy elite have moved to Elysium, a huge, utopian space habitat that orbits the Earth. Everyone else lives on the disease-ridden, extremely poor, and highly overpopulated Earth. Max De Costa, a Los Angeles factory worker, orphan, and paroled criminal is involved in a terrible accident at his work, and, after learning he will die soon, figures he has nothing left to lose, and has his criminal friend Spider weld a robotic exoskeleton onto his body, which gives him super-strength, so he can successfully hijack a shuttle and break into Elysium. Unfortunately, it seems the odds are stacked against him, as the robotic police, the Elysium staff, and a viscous mercenary are all attempting to hunt him down and prevent him from escaping Earth and entering the peaceful habitat. Matt Damon does a fantastic job. He's a good actor, and he pulls off the underdog/action hero thing really well, as showcased in the Jason Bourne series. He's not as good as Sharlto Copley in District 9, but he does do a great job. Speaking of which, Sharlto Copley returns from District 9 (he also appeared as Murdoch in The A-Team film), but instead of playing the main hero, he portrays one of the film's villains, a sadistic South African mercenary named Kruger. He's a really memorable villain, and he's nearly unrecognizable because he's bulked up, and has a shaggy and dirty beard. He is recognizable, however, by his thick South African accent. He is very threatening and is pretty disturbing and unsettling in a few small scenes. He's a better villain than Jodie Foster. Foster is a good actress, but she puts on a weird accent for some scenes, and is a bit lackluster. She plays the ruthless and bitchy Jessica Delacourt, who basically serves as the "intelligent" villain, where Kruger is the muscle. Although Kruger ends up being smarter than he seems and she is a bit stupider than you would think: hiring a psychotic murderer and rapist as a mercenary? Dumb idea. William Fichtner plays the selfish and conceited John Carlyle, who is a millionaire who owns a company which owns the factory De Costa works in. He's just a straight-up asshole, which is a role Fichtner always plays, he's either a villain or a doucher. Alice Braga plays Max's friend and love interest Frey, a kind mother and nurse. Faran Tahir (Iron Man, Star Trek) has a small roles as the President of Elysium. Blomkamp has a great visual eye, and this film definitely showcases that. This looks as good as District 9, and has some visual throwbacks, such as the similar looking flying shuttles from both films. The action sequences are less shaky-cam heavy than his previous film, but Blomkamp still has a bit of shaky-cam in this film, but that's a minor complaint. The action sequences are pretty entertaining, and the visual effects in them are seamlessly put next to the real sets and actors. Like D9, the film has a very rich world and a unique visual style. The camerawork is pretty inventive and interesting in certain scenes, especially some key moments in the final fight between Kruger and Max. The music is pretty cool, as well, but is a bit forgettable. Elysium may not be as good as District 9, but on it's own merits it's satisfying and entertaining, as well as thought-provoking. It's got a stellar cast, fantastic visual effects, thrilling action, and some touching moments as well. 4/5 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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