Set in a futuristic, poverty-stricken Los Angeles, Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity) portrays the ex-convict who's trying to go straight in "Max". Employed at a robotic drone manufacturing facility, and looking to work his way towards a "ticket" to become a citizen of the orbiting Space Station "Elysium", Max suffers a lethal dose of radiation in an on-the-job accident. With mere days to live, and knowing that the wealthy, privileged citizens of Elysium have all-healing "med-pods" at their disposal, Max reluctantly joins forces with an underground resistance to somehow hitch a ride.
Damon has a couple of laughs here and there, but isn't given enough back story or exposition to fully develop a well-rounded character. The film hinges on a strong presence that simply isn't here; it's missing a commanding figure that a potential audience can get behind as he/she challenges the system in a "Damn The Man!" type of story. The Bourne films have proven that Damon can pull off being a bad-ass on the silver screen, though his Jason Bourne was presented as a layered, three-dimensional character that audiences cared about and eventually found themselves rooting for. That level of quality exposition regarding the main protagonist simply isn't allowed in Elysium- hell, it isn't allowed for ANY character therein.
Here's a thought: Why does our Hero have to be Caucasian here? This wasn't a major personal gripe, but Matt Damon sticks out like a sore thumb (or a tattooed q-tip) amidst all the Latinos inhabiting the landscapes of a futuristic Los Angeles (a large portion of the film is shot in Mexico)- he's almost laughably out of place. This would have been the perfect opportunity to have cast a Latino (or other minority) in the role of savior in a Sci-Fi Action film. If one stops to consider all of the other entries in the hybrid genre, I think it's pretty clear-cut that it's dominated by whites.
There's obvious, politically-slanted references to the U.S.'s health care and immigration policies, with jabs at those 1 percenters that so many love to hate; Earth's trash-strewn wasteland teaming with Latinos is contrasted with Elysium's gleaming, shangri-la-esque refuge for wealthy white yuppies. Coincidentally, Matt Damon's net worth is somewhere near $65 Million... just wanted to throw that out there. It isn't that I necessarily disagree with the film's various agendas, it's more of a case of recognizing a glaringly-transparent and sloppy execution. Where District 9 handled the underlying sociopolitical commentary (and allegorical references to Apartheid) in an uncommonly heady and refreshing manner for a Sci-Fi film, Elysium fumbles the ball on the kickoff and continues to turn the ball over throughout the game. Neil Blomkamp is listed as the sole Writer of the film so he deserves the blame for such a clunky, patchwork script- his work here as the film's Director is only marginally better.
The exo-skeleton/mech suit gimmick is something that's very en vogue in Sci-Fi, with films like Aliens, The Matrix: Revolutions, the Iron Man films, Avatar, District 9 and Pacific Rim utilizing their inclusion to mostly positive results. Next year's Tom Cruise vehicle Edge of Tomorrow will also prominently feature Mecha, as well. The reasoning behind it's incorporation here is solid, yet I couldn't help but feel that it was decidedly underutilized- the same can be said of the film's robotic police/military force. While on the subject of the military...
***SPOILERS***
Elysium's space station defense capabilities are woefully inadequate, making one wonder just how many illegal immigrant landings there are in a year- if a couple of ships with the unwanted, both emanating from L.A., are able to slip onto the station in a five day period of time, I can only wonder about how many "border crossings" there are from other parts of the world in a month's time. Furthermore, if ships of undesirables can successfully land on Elysium they can sure as hell crash into or fire upon Elysium.
A villainous figure fires two rockets from Earth to destroy two ships of immigrants just moments away from a potential landing on the space station, which makes one wonder about how easy it would be for a terrorist to bring the damned thing down...
***END SPOILERS***
Sharlto Copley (District 9) gives it the old college whirl as the grizzled, vicious, Earth-bound mercenary, "Kruger", though the normally highly talented actor can only resort to snarling tired threats once he realizes he has nothing in the way of quality material (or Direction) to work with. His South African accent, as in District 9, is once again decidedly heavy here. I could only wonder why his character, living in squalor amongst the slums of L.A. and showing an outright detest for those in power on Elysium, would continue working for those particular high-ranking, off-planet officials. There doesn't seem to be any kind of payoff in sight, so what are his motives? The eventual, mano y mano showdown between Kruger and Max is underwhelming.
Brazilian actress Alice Braga (Predators) is "Frey", a Doctor and single mother on Earth caring for her leukemia-stricken daughter. A childhood friend of Max's, the two meet up again by happenstance- the narrative draws on stapled-in flashbacks to set up a relationship between the two and, thankfully, there is no obligatory love story here. Braga does fine work with what little she has to work with.
Jodie Foster (The Silence Of The Lambs) plays Elysium's scheming Secretary Of Defense, "Jessica Delacourt". Those inclined, for shits and giggles, should pay close attention to Foster's lips during her dialogue and you'll realize that her lines (and accent) were changed post production- it's amongst her absolute worst, most insignificant roles... but Damn she has nice legs!
Wagner Moura (Elite Squad) plays the sweaty smuggler and techno terrorist "Spider", while Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien) pops up briefly as a friend of Max's. Faran Tahir (Iron Man) and William Fichtner (The Lone Ranger) round out the noticeable cast, portraying the President of Elysium and a stuffy industrialist, respectively.
Ultimately, Elysium has too much in common with Sci-Fi misfires like Johnny Mnemonic, Babylon A.D., The 6th Day, Surrogates, Paycheck, Lockout, No Escape (1994), Virtuosity, Soldier (1998), and Repo Men (2010) - I don't even feel it's worthy enough to lump it in with admittedly flawed, guilty pleasures like Terminator: Salvation, Total Recall (2012), The Island (2005), The Running Man, Fortress (1992), Runaway, or even Gamer.
The film is highlighted by a mid-movie hijacking scene that I felt was marred by too many guerrilla-style camera effects tricks. It's a violent, R-rated film, though there are only two big action scenes to speak of- neither of which touch greatness. It's moderately bloody with one scene of graphic gore that may stick with you. There was just too damned much talent involved here for Elysium to be this tedious and detached. I felt my interest slipping away early as my issues with the film mounted...Elysium, Man Of Steel and Only God Forgives would be my top three personal disappointments of 2013, thus far.
Again, skip it and watch District 9, any of the guilty pleasures listed above, or other worthy Sci-Fi/Action films like Equilibrium, Minority Report, Outland (1981) Serenity, I, Robot or 2013's Oblivion instead...
5.0 out of 10.
No comments:
Post a Comment