Review of Elysium (2013) by Liam C — 12 Apr 2015

I'm really mystified with the reviews for this film, especially by the audience and after 'Chappie' was released even the director voiced his own dissatisfaction with the film. I thought 'Elysium' was great! Once again, Blomkamp takes a solid theme and mixes it really well into a sci-fi setting and adds great action as well. True, the theme might have been done before, but the way everything is executed here is much more original and I liked how it was portrayed. Matt Damon does a good job and you really get to know him before everything happens, he also has a good reason for what he does. I thought he'd slam that guy's head into the door because of the scene that happened before it but it goes on and sets up everything nicely. It would have been interesting to see Eminem in the role, though. The world building in the film is great and everything looks so real, the visuals are beautiful in this film, and the action pops once more and is great to watch, the final fight was especially satisfying, it didn't just run out of steam and end in an anticlimactic way, no, it was a good length and fun to watch. Max's suit looks great and it is believable, it isn't over the top and they explain how it works very well, although how it was introduced was weird, he only gets it after he mentions he is ill, wouldn't you just give it to him anyway? Considering the job he was doing? There's a machine that can cure any ailment and at one point it goes over someone's face, I thought that might happen to cover up the effect but we do see a fair bit of what's going on in that moment and it looks brilliant.

Jodie Foster though? Wow, that something else. She was great but it was just so outrageous to see! I liked how her character ended, it was unique. Sharlto Copley once again gives an outstanding performance and really shows versatility and I'm glad he's in the film more than it seems, at first but please, put him in more films, he is an excellent actor. William Fichtner also appears and it is always great to see him and all of the characters have a deeper meaning behind that represent something, but I won't spoil it. There are also some plot twists that happen and after a while I really didn't know what was going to happen next. Sure, we see Max as a child being told he's destined for great things and we all know he's going to go up to the 'Halo' ring- Elysium but a lot of other things, especially the final act, were all surprising. We see a break-in earlier on in the film and even if they managed to get in without being noticed somehow, they wouldn't last long, but it foreshadows events to come, in a way, so there's that too. The robot designs looks very much like the basis for what would become 'Chappie' which makes sense because he felt inspired to make that film because of how he felt after he made this, as well as his short film, like Alive in Joburg, too. He also said he ended his sort of 'trilogy' with that film, I wonder if these three films are connected in some way?

I really feel like Neil Blomkamp is like M Night Shyamalan and I don't mean that in a bad way because I like M Night but they are the type of directors that get overly criticised because of the first big film they made and every film they make thereafter is unfairly compared. Both gained huge recognition on a film that was nominated for 'Best Picture' which is incredible enough as it and even though I guess it makes sense for people to expect to be blown away once again, it's still unfair. I really enjoyed myself with this film, some could say the overall story was small, whilst dealing with a big theme and maybe Blomkamp did want to do more but who knows? Some wonder why they don't just put those healing beds on earth but that really would detract from its message. I think the film had a good message, portrayed it in a great way and showed it in a sci-fi setting in a very good way, and its short as well, like District 9, it tells its tale and leaves, and as always, it isn't about the length and it's about what you do with it. I just had a blast.