Elysium (2013) review

Sometimes in Hollywood, your first film can help you make quite an impression on the industry and that will help you down the road for certain projects you want to do. That is exactly what happened to director Neill Blomkamp when in 2009, with the help of producer Peter Jackson, he made ‘District 9’ and while the film was only made on a budget of $35 million and featured a relatively unknown cast, the film defied expectations and became a sleeper hit. It made over $210 million worldwide and it received critical acclaim as it ended up with four Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. So now Blomkamp is considered as one of the biggest directors ‘on the rise’ in Hollywood and for his next project, Blomkamp goes for another original sci-fi story, ‘Elysium’. Like with his previous film, ‘Elysium’ features social commentary but here it’s not really the main focus. Those coming off of ‘District 9’ might find this feeling more like an action movie. But while the social commentary is not really the main focus, the film is still entertaining enough to be a satisfying summer movie.

In the year 2154, Earth has become polluted and overpopulated as the poor people of the planet struggle to survive. But while the poor are left to fend for themselves on Earth, the rich and privileged have moved onto a high-tech space station known as ‘Elysium’, now living in a community that is free of poverty, war, and disease. One day, a factory worker on Earth named Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) is exposed to dangerous radiation after an industrial accident. When told that he will die in five days, Max looks for a way onto Elysium, where its residents have advanced medical pods that can instantly cure them of any disease. A local smuggler (Wagner Moura) helps him out by giving him a rudimentary exoskeleton to increase his strength in exchange for helping him steal valuable information and Max soon learns that this info could change everything and bring equality to the polarized social classes.

While I have not seen ‘District 9’, I am aware that it was full of social commentary, with themes of inhumanity, racism, and so on. The same can be said for ‘Elysium’, as it explores the whole idea of social classes and how the rich get the privilege of living in a world with no war or disease while the poor don’t. The thing is, however, that this movie is probably not that big on the commentary. It’s there, sure, but as a whole, this movie feels more like an action movie. The first third of the movie does a great job at setting up the universes of both the crisp and clean world of Elysium and the dirty and run-down future Earth with little to no action. But after that, the movie then sort of slips into the action genre where the social commentary isn’t as important as it was before. To his credit, Blomkamp does a great job at filming these action sequences but for a movie with this kind of potential in terms of social commentary, this is a bit of a disappointment in that regard. Still, it’s a very entertaining movie despite this flaw.

As for the acting, Matt Damon is rock-solid in the lead role. There’s a good amount of depth to the character (the trailers have thankfully not shown anything regarding his backstory) and he’s compelling enough to follow. As for Jodie Foster, who plays Elysium’s Secretary of Defense, she’s fine in the role but she’s also probably the weakest link in the film. This is the case of a role where you probably could have cast anyone else in the role and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. But the one who easily steals the show here is Sharlto Copley, who plays Kruger, a vicious mercenary who is hired by Foster’s character to eliminate any illegal immigrants that try to get to Elysium. Just think the psychotic mind of a serial killer mixed with the Terminator and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what this character is like.

All in all, after a film like ‘District 9’, some might say that ‘Elysium’ might be a bit disappointing. It’s clear that Blomkamp has a knack for social commentary but while it may be present in this movie, it becomes a bit overshadowed by the action during the final two-thirds of the movie. But, despite that problem, the film is still very entertaining as a sci-fi/action summer blockbuster, especially during this time of the year as the summer season starts to come to a close. This had the potential to be on the same level that ‘District 9’ was (again, at the time I’m writing this I haven’t seen it) but in the end, it falls a little flat in regard to its themes and social commentary. Still, it is clear that Neill Blomkamp is on his way to becoming one of the top directors in the industry. Some might say this is a bit of a stumbling block for him, but Blomkamp still succeeds for the most part here.

Rating: 3.5/5