Imagine the Earth 140 years from now as a third-world planet, the victim of global warming. It is now a place of poverty and slum cities and people in failing health with virtually no recourse to change their lives.
Floating above them, far up in the sky but visible from Earth, is Elysium, a giant sky satellite where people live in luxury. It is a paradise playground for the rich, and each home comes equipped with a high-tech healing chamber.
How high-tech? If you have leukemia, spend a minute or two inside the chamber and your body will be cleared of cancer. Name the terminal illness, it can be cured.
If you see a theme developing, perhaps you can imagine the population split between the humans living in these two places: It would appear that about 1 percent live far above it all as "citizens of Elysium," while the other 99 percent live down below.
Those people have but only to look up to be constantly reminded of what they cannot have as "non-citizens," as the airspace in between them and Elysium is a border that cannot be crossed without fear of being shot down.
As he accomplished with "District 9," his feature-film debut about extraterrestrial refugees confined to a South African internment camp - both a box-office hit as well as an Oscar nominee for best picture in 2009 - writer-director Neill Blomkamp has used the genre of science-fiction to craft an exciting, futuristic tale while imbuing it with social commentary about present-day issues.
Like Rod Serling with "The Twilight Zone" and others before him, Blomkamp has recognized the potential of sci-fi to tell relevant stories about where we've been as a people and where our society may be headed.
While "Elysium" has a more conventional action-movie framework, its message of the "haves" and the "have-nots" of this world rings loud and clear.
The audience goes on this journey to 2154 Los Angeles along with Max, a former scrounger/thief and ex-con who's now trying to make an honest living in one of the many factories that provide services for Elysium.
A bald, bulked-up Matt Damon portrays Max as an adult version of a little boy who, along with his friend Frey (Alice Braga), once whimsically dreamed of a life on Elysium, but whose rough-and-tumble life is now about staying out of trouble.
His smart-aleck mouth doesn't always allow that, however, as we see him sassing one of the many security robots managing a planet that looks as if social unrest is just a moment away. The machines have no sense of humor while searching Max, and a broken arm is the result.
These robots and their blunt dialogue are priceless (a robot health aide to Max after he suffers a lethal dose of radiation at the factory: "In five days' time, you will die... Thank you for your service.").
Blomkamp has more money to dream with than he had with "District 9," which had a $30 million budget - and looked superior in production design and special effects to most $100 million-plus blockbusters - and he has made a gorgeous picture.
The narrative and his art direction are balanced between Earth's slums and Elysium, which looks like a meeting of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous."
The director's script isn't as focused this time around, however, but Damon has no problem balancing a wicked sense of humor, action chops and gravitas.
Blomkamp occasionally has an awkward time graduating Max's mindset from that of a selfish man willing to become a criminal again in exchange for a trip to Elysium and his own cure to seeing himself as a person who can make a difference in the world, literally, through an elaborate scheme to gain citizenship for everyone.
Brazilian actor Wagner Moura is superb as Spider, a principled crook/opportunist running illegal shuttles up to Elysium who is able to see both the big picture as well as the dollar signs.
Jodie Foster is chilly evil, an ice queen exquisitely decked out in 2154 Giorgio Armani power suits as the defense secretary on Elysium who's hungry for more power and who doesn't mind shooting down Spider's shuttles full of women and children.
But it is Sharlto Copley, the star of "District 9" gone horribly wrong here, who makes the most lasting impression as a truly distasteful villain, a brutish minion of Foster's character who possesses neither a conscience nor manners. When he must do battle with Max - with Damon's body now outfitted with an exoskeleton suit, screwed into his bones to equip him with super strength - the action is as intense as it is unpredictable.
What makes "Elysium" memorable more than anything, however, is the fact that nothing happens in the film that I couldn't see being reality in 2154. Think of someone 140 years ago, in 1873, trying to predict what they would discover in today's society.
In that sense, Blomkamp remains a visionary.
'Elysium'
Cast: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura
Theaters: (IMAX) Cinemark Tulsa, AMC Southroads 20; also at Cinemark Broken Arrow, Starworld 20, RiverWalk, Owasso, Admiral Twin Drive-in, Eton Square, Sand Springs
Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes Rated: R (strong bloody violence and language throughout)
Quality:
(on a scale of zero to four stars)
Michael Smith 918-581-8479
michael.smith@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Paradise out of reach
'Elysium'
Cast: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura
Theaters: (IMAX) Cinemark Tulsa, AMC Southroads 20; also at Cinemark Broken Arrow, Starworld 20, RiverWalk, Owasso, Admiral Twin Drive-in, Eton Square, Sand Springs
Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes Rated: R (strong bloody violence and language throughout)
Quality:
(on a scale of zero to four stars)
Movie Reviews
When done right, a gangster comedy with some brains and some blood can become a black comedy favorite, along the lines of “The Freshman” or “Prizzi’s Honor” or “Get Shorty.”
What is every woman's fantasy? "Austenland" blurs the line between fiction and nonfiction in a romantic comedy that is at times literate, clunky and amusingly kooky.
