Elysium

The disappointing summer of 2013 continues...

In 2009, a first time director named Neill Blomkamp directed a little movie called District 9 which completely wowed me. I loved District 9 so much that his follow up film, Elysium, was my absolute most anticipated movie of this summer. I thought Blomkamp had a vision, something different and unique and more intelligent than that standard issue fare from the studios - sequels and reboots. But my anticipation was misplaced because I found Elysium to be nothing more than a huge disappointment.

The movie takes place in the year 2154, where Earth is little more than a shanty town full of the poor and the sick. Meanwhile, the rich live in outer space on a spherical man made planet called Elysium. They have perfect lawns and perfect weather and devices that can cure any illness or injury. Elysium is all but run by Jodie Foster, who has an indescribable accent for some reason, that comes and goes at will. Meanwhile, on Earth, a young boy named Max dreams of taking his childhood sweetheart Frey to the new planet. He grows up to be played by Matt Damon, an ex con who works a terrible job which leads to an accident that leaves him with only 5 days to live. Suddenly, he absolutely has to get to Elysium because they have the machinery to cure him. So, he goes to an old friend named Spider (Wagner Moura, where have you been all my life???). Spider is a shady underground figure who Max apparently did time for earlier so he owes him a favor. Spider's thugs outfit Max with a bad ass exoskeleton which makes him into some sort of super fighter dude, ask him to do one last job for them, and then promise him a ticket to Elysium. Of course, nothing goes right, Max runs into a grown up Frey (Alice Braga) who has problems of her own, and a sociopathic Elysium henchman named Kruger (Sharlto Copley).

So, that's Elysium in a nutshell. In some ways, this movie is really all that you can ask for out of a summer movie. It's got great direction, beautiful visuals, great acting, and special effects that are far and away from most everything else. Plus, it's got a very distinct style and vision and, although dark and depressing, it's special nonetheless. Also, it's so refreshing to have a big budget summer action movie that ISN'T IN 3D!!! So, thank the Lord for that, because I am totally burned out on 3D. So, if this looks and feels like a good sci-fi movie, then why is it so damn disappointing?

Well, for starters, the story is just so bogged down with unnecessary things. I think this sort of movie would have been best, and seemed smarter, if it had just stayed simple. You don't have to throw in some half-cooked, hair-brain idea about stealing encrypted information from someone's brain in order to seem smart, especially when this doesn't advance the plot in any real way. It just forces a character to get from point A to point B, when there are other ways that could have been done. The story just seemed so mediocre and I was definitely expecting so much more from the Blomkamp. I mean, if you don't have a good story to begin with then you really can't have a good movie. So, my biggest problem is the trite and haphazard nature of the plot, but that's hardly the only problem. Jodie Foster, who is a great, great actress, either isn't right for this role in the least or was just phoning it in. Her performance is terrible and nearly as distracting as whatever awful accent she was using for whatever reason. And don't even get me started on the lack of action in this "action movie."

But there is a saving grace and his name is Sharlto Copley, whose gleefully grinning maniac Kruger is the best damn thing about this movie. His performance is so intense, it puts everyone else to shame. He's perfection and gives the absolute best kind of performance, which is to say his mere presence manages to elevate the entire movie. If only he could have been in every single frame. Then perhaps I wouldn't have left Elysium so disappointed.

Grade: C-