Elysium Review

Director- Neil Blomkamp

Cast- Matt Damon

         Sharlto Copley

         Jodie Foster

         William Fitchner

Certificate- 15

Run Time- 109 minutes

Review

Neil Blomkamps latest sci-fi thriller takes place in the year 2154 where the poor live on a now ruined earth and the rich and privileged live on Elysium; a utopian space station that is basically controlled by ruthless leader Delacourt (Jodie Foster). Max (Damon) is an ex car thief who needs to get to Elysium to save his own life, giving us the basis for this film.

This film in one word is astounding. The visuals are fantastic and the performances are surprisingly good allowing Blomkamp to rise to the top of the list for great Sci-fi directors. Visually, this does look a lot like Blomkamps previous film district 9 (if you haven't seen D9, you should really look for it), which may seem too similar to some, but this is just the directors view of a future earth. It is the visuals on Elysium that stand out from the structure to the contrasting colours to the mad max like wasteland that is earth in this film.

The performances from Damon and Foster are very good, but it is Sharlto Copley who really stands out in this film as Fosters right hand man Kruger (insert Nightmare on elm street comment here). Copley plays the psychotic agent perfectly as he slashes his way through the futuristic fighters with a sword and energy shield rarely using an actual gun. It is this what makes him unique and his moral code that allows the audience to actually connect with some of the aspects of his character. 

Despite Elysium also containing good social commentary just like district 9, it is more of an action thriller other than just a thriller, but an effective one. Elysium criticises the upper classes for looking down on others without a second thought or glimpse of remorse before stepping on them. The action scenes in this film are amazingly filmed and give the film a great non-stop pace that lets the film fly by without a seconds thought.

My main criticism with this film is the use of shaky cam. This has been a gimmick that has been overused in recent years, even though a film can greatly benefit from using a single wide shot to display a great fight scene (see Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader in episode V). A wide shot would be used greatly during the final fight between Max and Kruger as it takes place on a bridge between rooms; the perfect location for a wide shot.

In the end, Elysium is a brilliant science fiction film that confirms its director as a recent great, but this just doesn't have as much of an effect as his previous film.

8/10