Film review: Elysium

Elysium. Rated MA 15+ (strong bloody violence). 109 minutes. Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp.

Verdict: An uneven, but ultimately rewarding, post-apocalyptic, big screen adventure.

Hollywood’s obsession with a post-apocalyptic universe reaches a particular zenith with Blomkamp’s (District 9) aggressive and over-loaded take on our not-too-distant future. It is a grand and ambitious vision, beautifully realised by Production Designer Philip Ivey and cinematographer Trent Opaloch, both of whom collaborated with Blomkamp on District 9.

It is 2154, and the privileged live on Elysium – a state-of-the-art space station where cancer is cured by a full-body scanning machine in only minutes. Everyone else lives on an over-populated, impoverished Earth – dreaming of, one day, being able to afford a ticket to Elysium’s utopian world, where sprawling mansions are surrounded by picturesque gardens and unpolluted water.

Blomkamp’s cut ‘n’ thrust screenplay explores so many grand themes that it becomes difficult to keep up with them. And unlike almost every other movie reviewed this year, Elysium powers to a stark and incredibly moving conclusion that you expect it to dodge.

Matt Damon is great as parolee Max, whose desperation to get to Elysium ensures that the stakes at play are incredibly high. Damon is well supported by an excellent performance from Alice Braga (I Am Legend) as his childhood sweetheart, now doctor and single mum, Frey. As the leading resistance fighters, Wagner Moura’s resourceful Spider and Diego Luna’s loyal friend Julio both deliver spirited performances that beautifully account for the resistance movement’s resourcefulness and determination to eventually reach Elysium safely.

Jodie Foster, surprisingly, spends much of her time striding around Elysium and fighting with a peculiar accent (the accent wins), while Sharlto Copley’s (The A-Team, District 9) toxic, special agent Kruger is so unlikeable that it becomes increasingly difficult to care about what happens to him.

Even though Blomkamp sets Elysium in 2154, it might just as easily be taking place today. Corruption, greed, selfishness, poverty, pollution, over-population and ruthless exploitation are all themes we can immediately relate to. Precisely what we are prepared to sacrifice in order to change what we can for the better (and not just for ourselves), is the question.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.