ELYSIUM
review by
ANIZ FILMVALA
*****
In 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a luxurious space station called Elysium and the poor, who live on an overpopulated, devastated Earth. While residents on Earth are policed by ruthless robots, Elysian citizens live in comfort and regularly use man-sized medical devices called Med-Bays to keep them free of disease.
Max Da Costa (Matt Damon), a former car thief and parolee, lives in the ruins of Los Angeles and works at an assembly line for the Armadyne Corp., the company that built Elysium. But an accident at the plant exposes Max to a lethal dose of radiation, giving him only five days to live. Meanwhile, when a caravan of illegal immigrants from Earth attempts to reach Elysium, Elysian Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster) orders vicious mercenary Kruger (Sharlto Copley) to shoot down the shuttles. Disapproving of her methods, Elysian President Patel (Faran Tahir) reprimands her. Delacourt, vowing to protect Elysium and her own power, bargains with Armadyne's CEO John Carlyle (William Fichtner) to write a program that can override Elysium's central computer and make her President. Carlyle creates the program in his office on Earth and uploads it to his brain for safekeeping.
Max, knowing his only chance for survival is a Med-Bay, with the assistance of his friend Julio (Diego Luna), seek help from notorious smuggler Spider (Wagner Moura). Spider agrees to get Max to Elysium only if he helps him steal valuable financial information from Carlyle, who is preparing to leave Earth. However, recognizing Max's weakened condition, Spider has his doctors implant Max with a powered exoskeleton, giving him superhuman strength, as well as an implant in his brain that can store computer data. With help, Max and Julio intercept Carlyle's ship, and Max uploads the data (including the program) to his own brain. However, Delacourt secretly deploys Kruger to rescue Carlyle and recover the program. In the ensuing firefight, all of Max's allies are killed, Kruger kills Julio, Carlyle is mortally wounded, and a wounded Max retreats to the house of Frey (Alice Braga), a childhood friend whose daughter, Matilda, has leukemia. Realizing that Max intends to smuggle himself to Elysium, Frey begs him to take Matilda with him so that she can be cured, but Max refuses.
Afterwards, when Max returns to Spider to extract the information from his head, they discover Carlyle's program, realizing that they could make all of Earth's residents legal citizens of Elysium. However, the airspace lockdown Delecourt issued prevents Spider from launching a ship for Max. Instead, Max bargains with Kruger to be taken to Elysium, who unbeknownst to Max has captured Frey and Matilda as hostages. With the lockdown lifted, Kruger's ship departs for Elysium, but a scuffle ensues, causing the ship to crash land into Elysium. Max, Frey and Matilda are apprehended from the wreckage.
Delacourt chastises Kruger’s recklessness, but the mentally-unhinged Kruger kills Delacourt, planning to steal the program for himself to rule Elysium. Kruger has his men install a military-grade version of Max's exoskeleton onto himself, and goes on a rampage through Elysium while looking for Max. Max escapes from his confinement and frees Frey and Matilda. Realizing that Med-Bays only work for Elysian citizens, Max resolves to use Carlyle's program to make everyone a citizen. He meets with Spider, who snuck aboard Elysium during the chaos, and head for the main control hub. However, they are ambushed by Kruger. During the fight, Max tears the interface that connects Kruger's brain to his exoskeleton directly out of his skull, and then hurls Kruger over a ledge to his death.
Spider and Max reach Elysium's main datacenter and realize that the activation of the program will kill Max. After speaking with Frey one last time over a radio, Max activates the program, killing himself. As Max dies, the computer core is rebooted, registering every Earth resident as a citizen of Elysium. A Med-Bay cures Matilda, and as a massive number of new citizens on Earth are now recognized by Elysium's main computer as being in need of medical treatment, a fleet of medical ships are dispatched to Earth and begin their work.
CRITIC VIEW.
Elysium shows the dark side of the future of planet earth with a aptness of cinematic vision by Director Neill Blomkamp.
He has smartly crafted the ethos of over populated LA in 2154 with panache which will precisely put you in a low.
Futuristic treatment by stylish and ultramodern machines that cures leukemia in a blink [definately the need of this century] is something to be noticed and appreciated.
Matt Damon’s playing the anti-hero with head shaved, muscled torso covered with tattoos looks convincingly ugly and lethal.
Jodie Foster as Elysian Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt looks witchy and has portrayed it with full conviction.
Also a indian connection President Patel (Faran Tahir) has shown with sarcasm.
Highlights of the movie are the Elysium's wild ride and a slick imagination,where the most wealthy are shifted from earth.
Also enormous areas of poverty and half-derelict rows of skyscrapers on Earth are shown with impressive visual effects.
Music by Ryan Amon and Cinematography by Trent Opaloch are noteworthy.
In addition, the script has both emotional and humanity side to it.
Is it worth watching? Highly recommended for the fans of Science Fiction & Fantasy movie.
CAST.
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Produced by Neill Blomkamp,Bill Block,Simon Kinberg
Executive Producer - Sue Baden-Powell
Written by Neill Blomkamp
Starring Matt Damon,Jodie Foster,Sharlto Copley,Alice Braga,Diego Luna,Wagner Moura,William Fichtner
Music by Ryan Amon
Cinematography Trent Opaloch
Editing by Julian Clarke,Lee Smith
Studio Alphacore,Media Rights Capital,QED International
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
