Bleeding edge science fiction movies have traditionally occupied two opposing concepts of society: the sleek utopia of the “Star Trek” films or the gritty dystopia of “Blade Runner.” Director Neill Blomkamp’s first feature film, the critically acclaimed 2009 art-house sci-fi thriller “District 9,” clearly occupied dystopian territory.
With his second film, “Elysium,” Blomkamp dares to crash that utopia against dystopia in a big-budget class struggle. In Greek mythology, Elysium is where the souls of worthy heroes go after they die; it’s a warrior’s paradise.
In the year 2154, the rich humans now live in a highly advanced enclave in space, a luxurious, star-shaped space station orbiting the Earth called Elysium. Meanwhile, back on a ravaged Earth, the poor earthlings struggle to survive.
Desperate plan
Los Angeles is now a city of slums policed by armed robots. Everyone dreams of going to Elysium but can never afford to go there. After an industrial accident leaves him with only days to live, former criminal Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) needs to break into Elysium to save his life by using one of the station’s miraculous medical bays. It’s a technology that only Elysium citizens are allowed to use.
He hatches a desperate plan to break into the station by kidnapping his boss Carlyle (William Fichtner from “Armageddon”). It is Defense Security Sec. Delacourt Rhodes’ (a frosty Jodie Foster) job to stop him in order to preserve their lifestyle.
Hot on Max’s trail is the dangerous and deranged government enforcer Kruger (manic Sharlto Copley, also from “District 9”). In his attempt to cure himself, Max stands to take down the literal high society and even the odds for everyone he knows.
With “Elysium,” Blomkamp (who also writes and produces the film) is expounding on the ideas he began discussing in “District 9.” As a result, “Elysium” is both entertainment and social commentary. In particular, he is discussing two hot-button topics that tiptoe on that border between the First World and the Third: healthcare and immigration. Blomkamp sheaths those issues in an action-packed chase through squalor (shot in Mexico City) and serenity (Vancouver) alike.
In the hands of another director, “Elysium” could easily have devolved into a run-of-the-mill flick with endless, mindless fights and explosions. But Blomkamp, always a cerebral talent, uses each action sequence as a piece in the puzzle he’s putting together. He uses the contrast between the haves and the have-nots, between Elysium and Los Angeles, in such a sharp, extreme manner that you never forget what he’s trying to say even as he tries to blow stuff up.
Scene-stealer
As the hard-luck everyman Max, Damon delivers an earnest, workmanlike performance. His physicality in “Elysium” (especially after he receives the strength-boosting exo-suit in a painful operation) is surprising and graceful, considering he is in fights almost continuously in the film’s second half.
As Rhodes, Foster clearly now relishes playing the villain in an intense but controlled manner as she did in 2006’s “Inside Man.”
But the scene-stealer—as he is in virtually every movie he’s appeared in—is Copley as the amoral agent Kruger. Frighteningly muscular, with dark, crazy eyes and a berserker mentality, Copley is a rogue government agent who would run through walls with his own agenda. He is Blomkamp’s favorite actor (both are South African) and the director knows how to maximize Copley’s impact.
After seething with contempt from the start, “Elysium” launches itself towards the end with rage. Viewers may figure out where the film is heading in its last act and find some fights overly long, but Blomkamp injects the film with a dogged intelligence that refuses to be overshadowed by its big-budget enhancements.
Marching on with purpose and power, “Elysium” keeps its ruthless hold on the viewer until its speculative truth-telling mission is done.
Columbia Pictures’ “Elysium” opens in theaters on Sept. 4.
