How much you like or dislike Elysium may depend on just how cynical you are. We live in a world where people are denied medical treatment because they can’t afford the very best our doctors can provide. Arguments over Obamacare rage on as a vote has been brought to the House to repeal the health initiative 40 times now, a number that may be out of date only hours after this review posts. At the moment there are no cure-all solutions for cancer and several other diseases, but there is treatment to slow down the effects and perhaps defeat it over time. But, what if a cure-all solution did exist?
What if a cancer patient could lay down in a bed, be scanned and approximately ten seconds later stand up completely healthy? What if the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing could have been placed in one of these beds and ten seconds later they would have the limbs they lost back? What if all of this could be done without fine-print side effects such as serious skin reactions, ulcers or even death?
This in mind, the big question is to wonder whether you believe a portion of humanity would keep such a device from those that needed it the most. If a device existed that could cure any ailment known to man in a matter of seconds simply by laying down and pushing a button, would that device be kept from those suffering from cancer, COPD, HIV/AIDS, paralysis, pneumonia or even a broken leg? I will admit to having ascribed low expectations on most people, but I refuse to believe a device that could cure the world of its ailments in a matter of seconds would not be deployed to do just that…
As it turns out, just such a contraption is at the center of writer/director Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium and it guides the narrative. Blomkamp’s view of the future is bleak to say the least as he has set his most recent tale in the year 2159, where the Earth lay in ruin and humans are “living” in shantytowns similar to the cordoned off areas the aliens occupied in his 2009, Oscar-nominated debut District 9. Matt Damon plays Max, one of Earth’s citizens, relegated to working to manufacture robot police officers, much in the same way Colin Farrell’s character did in the recent Total Recall remake.
Max used to be part of a resistance, fighting against the super-wealthy that evacuated Earth years ago to live on the space station Elysium where everyone owns a device such as the one described above and people apparently don’t do much more than have fancy dinner parties and live in perpetual fear that one of Earth’s inhabitants may find a way to crash said party. Yes, as much as Elysium delves into healthcare reform it has its share of immigration commentary as well.
The story finds its footing as Max suffers a serious accident at work. Exposed to a lethal dose of radiation, he’s told he only has about five days to live. A side plot involving a coup d’état on Elysium bubbles to the surface at the same time as Elysium Secretary of Defense (Jodie Foster) makes a deal with a businessman (William Fichtner) to devise a code that will turn the tides in her favor. Information such as this can be locked in someone’s brain and encrypted, but at the same time it can also be stolen.
Dying, Max makes a deal with Spider (Elite Squad‘s Wagner Moura), a local black market dealer whose talents vary, including smuggling illegals up to Elysium as well as the ability to hack into someone’s brain. In exchange for the information in the businessman’s head he promises to get Max to Elysium. Additional players in this game involve a friend (Alice Braga) from Max’s past and her sick daughter as well as a sleeper agent on Earth (District 9‘s Sharlto Copley) as the antagonist with a gun.
While I was happy Blomkamp didn’t settle with simply using robots as the roadblocks in Max’s way toward his end goal, the majority of supporting characters in Elysium are paper thin to the point they don’t add much, if anything, to the drama.
Elysium‘s production design and effects are impressive to say the least. Blomkamp knows how to realize his vision. Even if Earth doesn’t appear much different than his last film, up in space we get a glimpse of the orbiting Elysium early on and it’s a moment meant to be seen on the largest screen possible. A circular space habitat, Elysium features lush landscapes, massive McMansions, shimmering waters and sterile living environments. You’d be best paying attention to every nook and cranny as this is where Blomkamp’s screenplay steadies its focus, the characters are secondary and hardly worth a mention, but boy does it all look pretty in the process.
It’s no surprise Trent Opaloch once again served as cinematographer as his visual style is almost signature after just two major films, which will add a slight element of interest in next year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, his first major motion picture that isn’t for Blomkamp. As many cinematographers have an issue utilizing handheld camerawork in action films, Opaloch knows how to bring us closer to the action with the intimacy of handheld while not making us nauseous at the same time. In fact, he’s grown since District 9 where I’d argue his shaky cam was over-bearing much of the time.
So visually, Elysium is a home run and Matt Damon as Max does what he can to keep the character interesting, the same can be said for fellow Earth residents such as those played by Diego Luna and Wagner Moura. Braga’s character, however, is written as the female caregiver, which doesn’t give her much room outside of stereotypical “let me help you” and “not without my daughter” moments you’ve seen many, many times before, and Copley is the angry mercenary who will always be out for himself first so the amount of imagination needed to figure out his character could be found in a coloring book. Add to that the inhabitants of Elysium, whom we never get to know in any way shape or form and a lot is riding on the shoulders of Damon and the audience’s cynicism.
Elysium is a visual spectacle that relies on whether or not you believe almost 150 years from now there will not only be a device that can cure any ailment, but it will also be reserved solely for the one-percenters even though there are stockpiles of them in existence, loaded on a transport ready to be taken anywhere on Earth or Elysium with the ability to heal anyone at any time.
While I have issues with the characters, my greatest issue is that I didn’t believe in the film’s narrative. I say this knowing full well others will have an opposite reaction, believing Yes, the rich would hoard a device such as that and keep it from the less fortunate! They’re doing it now, what’s to say they wouldn’t do it in the future? I can’t argue that and I give the film credit for bringing up the conversation. If anything it succeeds in opening a dialogue and causes us to think and be passionate on one side of the fence or the other, but if you’re like me, it may cause this 109-minute movie to feel longer than it is and too cynical, since there isn’t much of a human angle to grab onto otherwise.
