MOVIE REVIEW: Elysium

GENRE: Sci-fi Action Drama

RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes

STARRING: Matt Damon (The Adjustment Bureau), Jodie Foster (Carnage), Sharlto Copley (District 9)

DIRECTED BY: Neill Blomkamp (District 9)

RATING:   

Currently screening at Ster-kinekor Northgate.

PLOT: In 2154 the people of Earth exist in extreme poverty and overcrowded cities. Disease and decay plague the planet. The wealthy and elite have escaped and live a life of luxury on Elysium, a pristine space station built by the Armadyne Corporation. Strict anti-immigration laws ensure that the two classes of people remain forever separated. The superior military forces on Elysium, led by the ruthless Secretary of Defense, Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster), ensure that any attempts by inhabitants of Earth to break through the divide are viciously halted.

Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) is an ex-con who has a life dream to cross that divide. While working at Armadyne Corporation, he is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and given five days to live. Max has nothing to lose and seizes the opportunity to cross the divide into Elysium.

THE GOOD: The intensity of the constant struggle between the two classes of people creates fast-paced action scenes, leaving you on the edge of your seat at times.

THE BAD: Sharlto Copley (Agent CM Kruger) and Brandon Auret (Drake) deliver at most, mediocre performances. While I am all for my fellow South Africans succeeding in the international movie industry, the content of their dialogue was completely out of context. Singing ‘Jan Pierewiet’ to a child dying of leukemia on a space ship, while trying to be the psychopathic renegade , left me seriously doubting Sharlto Copley’s acting ability. The South African lingo, although comfortingly familiar to us, is corny and displaced. The film lacked any substance and the storyline was weak and predictable. None of the characters developed and remained very superficial.

VERDICT: For all the media hype created around Elysium, the film is a big disappointment and it piggy-backed on the success of District 9.  Elysium may satisfy some sci-fi fans with the usual super-strong robots and space ships with gigantic screens of electro gadgets that beep and hum. But if it is a thrilling blast into the future you are seeking, then Elysium is not the movie to see. The only difference in Elysium is that the two opposing worlds of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are disguised as the ‘elite snobs’ and the ‘poverty-stricken underdogs.’ Besides the South African actors and dialect, the whole plot is all too familiar.

*SPECIAL THANKS TO STER-KINEKOR NORTHGATE WHO MADE THE REVIEW POSSIBLE.