Elysium

The words "from the director of District 9" on a poster or in a trailer made me crazy excited.  I am a huge fan of District 9.  But writer/director Neill Blomkamp's sophomore effort is very disappointing.  That's not to say it's a bad movie.  It's one of the best looking action films of the year, but that can be said of Man of Steel too.  So, where did Elysium go wrong?

 

For starters, the heavy handed political message.  District 9 is a movie wherein the treatment of alien creatures in South Africa mirrors the treatments of blacks under apartheid.  It's not what the movie is about, but it gives some weight to a movie that is otherwise just an alien and a bureaucrat reenacting The Defiant Ones.  George Romero's original zombie trilogy also uses social commentary to elevate simple genre fare and those films became enduring classics.  But with Elysium, the social commentary is the entire point and it's not subtle. 

 

People don't like to be preached to.  They especially don't like to be preached to during a big-budget, summer blockbuster.  Another problem is that foreigners shouldn't tackle American domestic issues.  There are exceptions but unless you've really got a grasp on the U.S.A., you come off looking like a jerk.  Blomkamp is from South Africa, and if he wanted to make a movie that criticized America's involvement in the Middle East or our tendency to impose our culture and beliefs on other countries or how our struggling economy affects the world, that would be great.  You see, that stuff all involves America's interactions with others.  A movie director from another continent shouldn't be telling audiences how Americans should be running their country and living their lives.  And it's not so much that Blomkamp isn't American that wrecks his story/sermon.  It's that he constantly tries to shove some unpopular ideas down your throat.  That's why subtlety is needed. 

 

There's a movie that came out last year called Killing Them Softly.  It's an amazing film written and directed by an Australian, Andrew Dominik.  Killing Them Softly tackles capitalism in respect to the recent American recession.  Dominik uses the tale of mafia hitmen as an allegory for the evils of capitalism.  It's up to you whether it's the specific capitalists who precipitated the recession who're evil or the entire capitalist system, but the point is that the movie is first and foremost a story about hitmen.  Elysium is first and foremost about the gulf between the haves and have-nots, it's about the evils of restricting immigration, and it's about the need for universal health care.  If you disagree with any or all of those things, then Elysium will alienate you.  If you do agree with any of those things, then you'll be left wondering what happened to the plot.

 

And there is a plot.  It's just thin.  In the future, the rich live on a space station orbiting Earth called "Elysium."  Matt Damon is a factory worker who is exposed to radiation and has only a few days to live.  He makes a deal with a gang/poverty insurgents to get them access to Elysium in exchange for a metal framework that enhances his body.  His attempts to gain access to Elysium and the healing beds that the rich own are thwarted by the head of Elysium's security and her mercenaries.  This results in lots of explosions and bleeding heart pontification.

 

There is a lot of good stuff going on in Elysium though.  I'm not saying that Neill Blomkamp is a one-hit wonder.  Elysium has visual effects that are stunning.  Everything is seamless.  People, props, amazing art direction, practical effects, and CGI all meld together to create a virtually flawless looking movie.  It's the writing that is lacking.  Blomkamp is super talented and I think it would be good for him to direct someone else's script.  I think he would elevate any material he's given and maybe give him a chance to really work out his next original work.

 

I do recommend it, but just barely.  The effects are worth the price alone.  But just be prepared for a very preachy movie about some very divisive issues.  This isn't a movie to watch around obnoxiously out spoken friends with strong political views either (regardless of party affiliation).  Maybe just watch it by yourself.

 

6 out of 10.