Months ago I tapped this film as my most anticipated for the summer. It seemed to be the rare blockbuster that was remotely concerned with the world we live in, and it turns out that that’s true…to a point. Even if Elysium ultimately falls a little short of expectations, it’s still one of the absolute best films of the summer——–the best one to cost over 100 million dollars——–and should be seen. Ultimately, a film trying to take on too much and not quite pulling it all together is vastly preferable than an unambitious one that aims low and succeeds (looking in your direction every other huge movie of the summer). [And this is the rare film where IMAX is worth it, those beautiful space sequences fill up the screen with wonder.]
What Works: Almost 140 years into the future, Earth is nearly uninhabitable. Disease, overpopulation, and pollution have ruined it and the rich have fled to a massive, idyllic space station called Elysium leaving the 99.99 percent behind to a brutal existence. Robots do most of the policing/enforcing and even a small infraction can have your automaton probation officer adding an additional 8 months to your probation—as happens to Matt Damon’s Max, an ex-con struggling to hold on to his crappy, dehumanizing factory job. The ruthless expendability with which his supervisor and the CEO of the company (a blow-dried William Finchter, an Elysium resident forced to come back to Earth to manage his factories) treat their workers feels all too familiar to anyone who’s ever held a job like that, and Max is eventually exposed to a lethal dose of radiation, which means he must break into Elysium to be cured. [The medical bays there can cure everything from bone conditions to cancer.]
All of this is exciting and relevant, and it’s more than a little relatable when a young Max looks up at the huge, seemingly perfect space station and longs to go there. This is a perfect allegory for the way all of us might see the 1 percent on TV or Forbes magazine, flaunting their wealth while insisting it’ll be possible for us to get there too…if we aren’t lazy. It’s just an added cherry on top that the set design is immaculate, the soulful Alice Braga plays the female lead, and the exciting early action sequences (like a shoot out with robotic bodyguards) are more than inventive. However, what goes up, must come…
What Doesn’t Work: In a word, the film’s villains. I don’t know why writer/director Neill Blomkamp is so fascinated with Sharlto Copley, his District 9 star. I’ve seen this guy in four movies, and——-as far as I can tell——-he couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag. He wasn’t too distracting as the star of District 9 (his first film credit ever) but his scenery devouring, inexplicably South African secret operative destroys the film’s atmosphere. It is a huge mistake to let such a one-dimensional, borderline expendable character hijack the movie in the crucial last third. In the end, he probably gets more screen-time than the supposed real villain: Jodie Foster. Foster’s ruthless government defense minister is never given much of a personality or much to do. Plus, it’s odd that she keeps speaking in this hyper-fake, over-pronounced accent when no one else on Elysium seems to.
In fact, it’s a bit odd that we never really see any of the residents of Elysium and most of the movie takes place on Earth. They’ve built this massive allegory, so why not explore the other side of it too? Do the residents of Elysium care at all about Earth or feel guilty? We wouldn’t know, because Finchter is the only non-governmental one who’s given a speaking part. Plus, I kept wondering about the rules of entry to the space station. Just how much money do you need to get there and can members be kicked out if they lose their funds? Can new members be admitted if they gain money? Blomkamp invests a little too much in watching Copley rampage and not enough in this intriguing world he’s created.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Copley’s hired muscle should have had severely reduced screen-time and didn’t need to be so psychotic in the time he does have. In contrast, Foster should have more. She’s never even given one good scene where she really lays out her skewed philosophy to Damon. The director has essentially made a very topical, relevant film but you can feel the studio softening it at every turn. You’d think a populist, “Up with the 99 percent!” message would be a crowd-pleaser, but I guess they’re afraid poor conservatives who still think they’ll be rich one day would hate it.