Elysium Review

In 2009 the entire film world came to a stop and stood in awe with the release of the year’s biggest surprise, District 9. A unknown South African director named Neill Blomkamp, who up to that point was known more as a 3D animator and for making short films, burst onto the scene with a highly ambitious sci-fi thriller that had quite a bit of CGI and was filmed on only a 30 million dollar budget. CGI is expensive, especially good CGI. And the fact that he wanted to make a film that revolves around CGI for such a small amount of money was audacious to say the least. And to everyone's surprise the movie was great, it was generally considered one of the best of the year. Not just the story telling, but the incredible visuals and cinematography. It might have won both of those categories at the Oscar's if it wasn't for Avatar. With his follow up film Elysium, Blomkamp shows that he isn't just a one hit wonder; but one of the new faces of a revived sci-fi genre. The movie takes place about 140 years in the future where society is divided. 99% of the population lives in poverty on a decimated earth, where desertification has over taken much of the planet and most of the resources have been used up as well. A very small percent of the population consisting mostly of the extremely wealthy have decided to leave earth and live on a space station orbiting Earth called Elysium. Elysium is a paradise: plenty of food and water, big houses, and most importantly the access to advanced medicine. The story follows a troubled man named Max who has had several run-ins with the law and has recently been put on parole. He's just trying to live an average life; he's even working at a robotics factory. One day there's an accident at his work leaving him severely sick with only days left to live. Max becomes desperate and reaches to some old friends; one of which being a man named Spider. Spider runs an illegal smuggling operation dedicated to sending people up to Elysium in the hopes that they can receive medical treatment, for a price of course; a ticket isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination. Max promises that he will do anything to get up to Elysium, so he agrees to do a job for Spider. In the future we've discovered a type of technology that acts as a USB for the brain. All Max has to do is find an Elysium big wig living on Earth and download whatever is in his head. The problem is Max can barely stand up due to his illness, so Spider gives him something to help. He fuses a military grade exoskeleton to max that acts as a brace and gives him incredible strength. So Max and his team pull the job and get the info from a big time CEO. But something goes wrong, almost immediately a specialized team of Elysium soldiers show up to try and take them out. When Max ultimately gets back to Spider and they take a look at what he got, and what he did makes him the most wanted man in the universe. This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, I thought District 9 was great and had faith in the director; fortunately I was not disappointed. I loved this movie, probably one of my favorite of the year. The most impressive aspect of the film would be the visuals, they're gorgeous. The CGI and cinematography are beautiful; Neill Blomkamp just has a way with the camera and always seems to know where to place. And as someone who has worked as a 3D artist he just knows how to make the CGI look great. The acting in the movie is good; I felt that stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster did a good job in their roles, but to be honest I could see other people playing their parts and do just as well. If anyone, co-star Sharlto Copley stole the show. He played the main antagonist, Kruger; he was awesome. Blomkamp has been known for putting political messages in his work; such as apartheid in District 9, and Elysium is no different. So viewers should be ready for that going into the movie. The only problem I really have the movie is that I felt there were some pacing issues. You'll have several moments of pure excitement then a while of filler. One thing I have to address would be the political messages; many have criticized the film for its liberal views as well being very critical of the 1% and how the health care system favors them over the poor. Personally the messages didn't bother me (mostly because I agree with them at least on some level), and I didn't feel like they were coming on to strong anyway. This is a great movie, I absolutely loved it. I know a lot have been people have been bashing on it and been giving it negative reviews, but I really believe that this is an incredibly well done and exciting movie. If you're a fan of sci-fi, it's definitely worth the watch. Neill Blomkamp puts a lot of passion into his work and it shows, and I honestly believe that in a few years he will be one of the biggest and most well known directors in the business. 

4/5 Stars