Little has been heard of Neill Blompkamp since his debut
with 2009’s District 9. Unlike
similar breakout Duncan Jones who followed his thoughtful character piece Moon with a much more adrenaline-fueled
flick in the form of Source Code before
apparently being headhunted for the long-awaited Warcraft film. But Blompkamp
has evidentially only been in seclusion so that he could dedicate the thought
and hard work into making a film worthy of the respect he now commands. So,
what exactly is the follow up to his high-octane apartheid allegory? A
high-octane immigration allegory, naturally.
The year is 2154 and most of Earth has been reduced to over-polluted and overpopulated favelas where the citizens live in squalor and struggle to live day to day. The wealthiest citizens having long-since left Earth behind for the space station Elysium, a picture perfect recreation of suburban Beverly Hills. Transport into Elysium is rigorously monitored by the coldly authoritarian Delacourt, who shoots down attempting immigrants without hesitation, even against the orders of her (slightly) more moderate superiors. This is all despite the fact that Earthlings are trying to desperately enter Elysium just the access their space-age medical bay, capable of curing any disease and healing any injury.
One such would-be immigrant is Max (Matt Damon), a master criminal gone straight who more or less embodies the working class schmo in a way both completely transparent yet extremely effective. After a workplace accident leaves Max with only days to live he calls upon his former crime boss Spider (Wagner Moura) to smuggle his into Elysium. Spider can do it but the plan involves and outfitting Max with a spindly but durable exoskeleton to go up against not only the security drones of Earth but Kruger (Sharlto Copley), a similarly suped-up psychopath who acts as Delacourt’s enforcer. Complications also arise when Max’s plan interrupts a political coup on Elysium and his former love Frey (Alice Braga) gets taken hostage along with her (what else) terminally sick daughter.
As much as I can deride Elysium
for its more clichéd elements, the hammering home of its ideology and the
cheesy attempts to endear us to Frey’s daughter, it cannot be denied that it
works. All the elements push Max on a journey to realise the selfishness in his
aspiration for a life of ease of Elysium. Culminated in a satisfactory
character arc that feels real and informed by the weight of the situation
around him and the consequences of the people he cares about. It’s one of the
most endearing and true-to-life performances of Damon’s career, even as he
punches robots in the face.
Speaking of true-to-life Blompkamp may have constructed the most believable vision of the future seen in years, a crowded dusty landfill, with crumbling blocks of flats reaching to the sky. A place where, at any minute you expect Wall-E to wheel through and start cleaning. The technology is little more than high-powered mods of our own AK-47 and Nissan’s, covered in dirt and scratches. Even the design on Max’s exoskeleton looks like something weathered with use, in short it’s a future that’s been lived in, perhaps more so than it can take. By contrast Elysium looks like the epitome of privilege; lush green lawns with perfectly cut grass, vast houses of squeaky clean glass and marble. All of it as hollow and artificial as the superiority of the people populating it.
Speaking of true-to-life Blompkamp may have constructed the most believable vision of the future seen in years, a crowded dusty landfill, with crumbling blocks of flats reaching to the sky. A place where, at any minute you expect Wall-E to wheel through and start cleaning. The technology is little more than high-powered mods of our own AK-47 and Nissan’s, covered in dirt and scratches. Even the design on Max’s exoskeleton looks like something weathered with use, in short it’s a future that’s been lived in, perhaps more so than it can take. By contrast Elysium looks like the epitome of privilege; lush green lawns with perfectly cut grass, vast houses of squeaky clean glass and marble. All of it as hollow and artificial as the superiority of the people populating it.
It’s probably for this reason
that few of Elysium’s residents are characterised. From the militant
authoritarianism of Delacourt, played to chilling perfection by Jodie Foster,
to the frustrated apathy of Max’s boss Carlyle (William Fichtner) who is so disdainful
of the lower classes he literally has the word ‘rich’ branded on his face
(technically ‘riche’). While this feels like a consequence of the films
breakneck rush through Elysium, much to its fault, it’s hard to see how they
could top the cast of characters stranded on Earth. Alice Braga’s Frey may be
the epitome of the blockbuster love interest, right down to getting kidnapped,
but provides a sympathetic example of how even the best of the have-nots are left
behind in this broken society. Meanwhile Wagner Moura pulls a surprising turn
as crime boss Spider, introduced as a heartless profiteer slowly transforming into
determined freedom fighter. Arguably it is he who is allowed the most
complexity of character and Moura sells the hell out of it.At the end of the day though the
real scene stealer is Copley whose Kruger is the ultimate extreme of the
psychotic henchman. Erratic and brutal
with joyous cruelty dripping from every line of dialogue, the best kind of stock
character with never a dull moment in his presence. Especially jarring as a
follow up to the spineless bureaucrat we saw him as in District 9, demonstrating Copely’s considerable range.
If one has to pick a flaw with Elysium it’s that it rarely gives itself time to breathe and perhaps do something more creative with the world it’s built. So much is offered of Earth, the sense of community, the criminal underclass, the oppression of the droids. But it’s a shame it can’t offer the same of the Disneyland that hovers above it, what its people are like, how it would deal with Delacourt’s rule. Nor can it offer more creativity with its action beats which largely consist of the same misty body splatters and fistfights from District 9. Thankfully though because of the empathetic characters and fleshed out world the film remains the most engaging and thoughtful rides I’ve had all summer. The easiest to recommend by worlds apart.
If one has to pick a flaw with Elysium it’s that it rarely gives itself time to breathe and perhaps do something more creative with the world it’s built. So much is offered of Earth, the sense of community, the criminal underclass, the oppression of the droids. But it’s a shame it can’t offer the same of the Disneyland that hovers above it, what its people are like, how it would deal with Delacourt’s rule. Nor can it offer more creativity with its action beats which largely consist of the same misty body splatters and fistfights from District 9. Thankfully though because of the empathetic characters and fleshed out world the film remains the most engaging and thoughtful rides I’ve had all summer. The easiest to recommend by worlds apart.
