Its shocking how bad "Elysium" is. Shocking not because its worse than say "Transformers 3" but shocking because Neill Blomkamp's first feature film was so good. How do you go from transcendent to trash so quickly? It can't be easy that's for sure.
Elysium is everything I hoped it wouldn't be: ponderous, self-serious, contrived, hilariously sincere and just plain bor-ing. From the opening human vs robots sequence that lost any meaning when the impersonal machines were given LA cop personalities to the uninteresting subplot of an attempted power grab in space, from the man dying of radiation poisoning who can somehow withstand having dozens of industrial screws inserted into his skeleton and walk around without any indication of discomfort or pain right through to the idea of Sharlito Copley as some sort of ultra-badass nothing about Elysium clicks, nothing resonates.
The story revolves around what is undeniably the central social issue of our day: the separation that the haves are orchestrating between themselves and everyone else as we move toward the big crunch. In Elysium that separation has been completed with the haves safely ensconsed in their artificial nirvana orbiting high above the open sewer that civilization has become. What could have and should have been an important piece of work ala "District 9" instead devolves into triteness and syrupy platitudes, stereotypes and Hallmark sentiment to such a degree that by the end I didn't care about the injustices on display, I just wondered why Jodie Foster felt the need to overact to such an outrageous degree, why William Fincher was even in the film and why someone like Matt Damon - who has such a hard time relaxing in front of the camera - is one of the most famous people in the world.
I could get into the particulars of the story but what would be the point? Let's just say the synopsis should read something like this:
Earth 2154. The poor are sincere and supportive of one another, the rich are horrified they have to ever interact with the poor, the puppetmasters execute their global conspiracies in hidden corridors and modern medicine took sides a long time ago.
About the only point "Elysium" makes that it makes well is the one which speaks to the phenomenon, well underway, of average people earning their daily bread by creating the means of their own future oppression. It makes this point well because it doesn't beat us over the head with it as it does with everything else. It's the only grey in a sea of narrative black and white. 'Nuff said.
Verdict: ★☆☆☆☆
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