Film Focus: Elysium
In the bleak dystopian future of 2154, the halo space station (HBO, Saturday at 10pm) will be the place to be. A pristine, gated community populated by only the rich elite. A secluded world of glistening pools, lush golf courses, fresh, clean air and dogs that don't poop on the manicured lawns. Planet Disco Bay, minus the swinging. A perfect place for perfect people to spend their perfect days.
Me and you? Well, assuming medical science will be able to keep us alive that long, we'll be stuck on the scorched and toxic wasteland that is Earth. Our wallets will simply not be plump enough to buy us the good life.
In the film, a bald and bulked up Matt Damon finds himself in a ghettoed Los Angeles facing the same social inequality. Damon plays blue-collar worker Max Da Costa, an ex-criminal working a dead-end factory job in the hope of one day escaping the slums to live among the stars. His orbital dreams, however, appear to be dashed when an accidental dose of industrial radiation leaves him with only days to live. His only chance of survival is to make it to the magical healing pods found on Elysium. Unable to afford a ticket for one of the unauthorised refugee flights run by black-market dealer Spider, Max is roped into a dangerous plot to steal data from the brain of a corporate bigwig.
Elysium's icy defence secretary (Jodie Foster, who can't decide on which accent to stick with, so flips between three) is having none of it and sends a team of assassins to take the interlopers down and preserve the safety of the privileged galactic community.
While the decrepit Earth is well realised, the paradise of Elysium is rather vague and the movie suffers from some glaring plot holes, while its profound ideology gets lost in the -esque run-and-chase action flick structure.
Despite that it's still an entertaining sophomore effort from writer/director Neill Blomkamp, who rose to prominence with his debut sci-fi thriller, the infinitely smarter and far superior .
may not be a stellar blockbuster but at least it hasn't got Tom Cruise in it.
