ELYSIUM

DIRECTOR - Neil Bloomkamp SYNOPSIS: In the future mankind is divided between the haves ,who live in a utopia Elysium, and the have-nots, who toil and suffer on the polluted earth below. Matt Damon plays Max, a worker who is left with days to live and must find a way to get into Elysium. District 9 had, among its many attributes, a distinct visual style, strong performances and a message-driven story. Neil Bloomkamp's new film, Elysium, has many of the same attributes; the story is driven by the director’s clear passion for the issues being discussed (the divide between rich and poor, healthcare , immigration). In one interview the director even stated "people have asked me if I think this is what will happen in 140 years, but this isn’t science fiction. This is today. This is now,” so it is clear that it is something that stems from deep convictions The problem with Elysium is that the message it conveys is delivered in such a simplistic over-the-top manner. Of course there is the argument of keeping thing simple and not letting the meaning of the film get too convoluted. There is also, however, the very real danger that in condensing complex issues down into simple black-and-white scenarios that your film’s message loses much of its punch. The inclusion of cybernetic armour that is strapped on to our hero to help him fight is also something of a head-scracher . It feels like it’s come right out of a more action-oriented movie and could easily have been left out with little or no loss to the story. These flaws, which do much to drag the film down, are a shame because the cast are doing their best with the material on offer. Matt Damon gives a strong performance as Max, the film’s tormented hero, and through his performance we really get the sense of a man driven to extremes who will do almost anything , (even if it violates his strong moral principles), to get out of the nightmare he finds himself in. Jodie Foster is given nothing to do but look vaguely evil and to speak the most diabolical English accent (her worst act of villainy in the film) but it otherwise under-utilised her talents. Alice Brag who plays Fey, a mother struggling to save her daughter, gives a good performance though her character is mostly a passive witness to the events which unfold. Sharlto Copley (who played the lead in District 9) plays a stock psychopath with little or no depth- but to the actor’s credit he managed to do his best with the limited role and injected some menace into a rather bland part. The main failing is the script which fails to live up to the weighty material it is dealing with in favour of heavy-handed metaphors and imagery. This is not to say that film has no emotional weight and that we care nothing for the characters but that it simply feels that more could have been achieved with all the effort of the performances and the stunning visuals. FINAL VERDICT 6/10 It feels like the director is punching below his weight, we have seen him do better than this, so while this is not a complete failure it’s not all that it might have been.