Predicted Rating: 3 Stars
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp (District 9). Starring: Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs) and Sharlto Copley (District 9).
In the year 2154, the human race has been split into two classes, the super rich who live on a custom built space station, Elysium, and the rest of the population stuck on Earth living in slums. Max de Costa (Damon), a convicted criminal, is working for a robot manufacturing company on Earth when he is subjected to a lethal dose of radiation, leaving him with five days to live. In order to get to Elysium and save his life, he must extract information from the mind of the CEO of the robotics company. It is revealed that this information is the code to Elysum, required by the Secretary of Defense, Jessica Delacourt (Foster), to initiate a coup and take over as president of Elysium. She hires the services of rogue agent C.M. Kruger (Copley) to hunt down Max before he makes it to Elysium and makes it accessible to the entire population.
Neill Blomkamp's first film, District 9, used a sci-fi back story to really explore the issue of racism in South Africa. With Elysium you would expect a similar approach to be taken, with Blomkamp this time exploring the issue of illegal immigration. From the very start it is obvious that he is specifically targeting the influx of Mexicans into the southern areas of the USA. However, it really isn't until the end of the film when Blomkamp's view on the issue is revealed, leaving the interpretation up to the viewer for most of the film. Depending on your ideology, you can interpret one of two ways. You can see that the influx of refugees into a better off area can drastically reduce the quality of life of the established occupants if the immigrants are not willing to fully integrate into society. This is made evident in the film as the Mexicans are the ones who are unemployed, essentially ridiculing the citizens who actually have jobs. On the other hand you see the selfishness of the rich and powerful, the 1% if you wish, as they essentially push the problem under the rug and flee to an area full of exclusivity and leaving the general population in disarray. In the end it becomes obvious that Blomkamp is of the opinion that everyone should get a fair go, no matter what their class or nationality, quite clearly the right answer. However, as most good films should be, it is up to the viewer the interpret the issues how they see fit and come up with their own conclusions.
As with the issue of illegal immigration, who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist is left entirely up to the interpretation of the viewer. The character of Wikus van der Merwe in District 9 is the perfect example of this, he is almost the quintessential anti-hero. His intentions are overall positive but the way he goes about it is somewhat unconventional so it is up to you to determine whether he is in fact a good guy or a bad guy. The same can be said for Max de Costa in Elysium. He is not your conventional good guy, he has a sketchy past and his intentions of bringing down Elysium are on a purely selfish basis. However, in the end he does essentially save humanity but he does it purely by coincidence. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? It is up to you to decide. The same goes for all the characters, they all have their moments where the can be loved or hated, just as most people have. This makes all the characters very realistic.
My fear for Elysium would that it would be way too commercial. The best part of District 9 was that it was so unique that it bordered on being an indie film. However, it didn't bear the pretentious quality that all indie films possess where they love to point out they are being different for the sake of it. I feared that the studio would recognise the success of District 9 and essentially make the same film and dumb it down so it would make money as opposed to being good. This was evident with the casting choice. Whilst Matt Damon and Jodie Foster are terrific actors, they were just there because their names would drag in viewers. I mean Jodie Foster didn't even have her signature accent that made her characters, such as Clarice Starling, so magical. In these type of films, I much prefer to see no name actors because they make the characters their own. The perfect example was Sharlto Copley's performance as Wikus in District 9. Whilst it is obvious that the studio had a big say in what happened in this film, Blomkamp had his fair share of a say in what occurred. This meant that Elysium will most likely be stuck in the middle of a commercial and critical success. This is a bad place to be as you will neither generate the money or get those prized Oscar nominations.
Overall: Not quite up to the standard of District 9 but still a thought provoking movie focusing on the issue of illegal immigration. 4 Stars
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