Elysium By Brenton Thom ELYSIUM is a sci-fi/action movie that takes place in the future of 2154. The rich live on a ring-shaped space station outside Earth’s atmosphere. There is no sickness, no cancer, and no poverty. They even have health pods to keep them healthy and clear them of any cancers, giving them the ability to live forever. Meanwhile, the poor live on Earth in the ghettos with sickness and disease. Our main character, Max, played by Matt Damon, is a former car thief, now on parole and living in a ruined Los Angeles. He just gets by making his living working in a factory that constructs robots. The story kicks off with Max trying to get his life in order and save up enough money to buy a ticket up to Elysium, but his plans are cut short when a patrol robot breaks his arm. His inability to work properly causes him to be locked in a radiation chamber, where he's exposed to deadly radiation levels. With only a few days left to live, Max decides to sneak aboard Elysium to cure his sickness. In the meantime, on Elysium, the Secretary of Defense, Jessica (played by Jodie Foster), wants the president of Elysium to have better control and shoot down any immigrants trying to pass into Elysium's airspace. She doesn’t think the president’s standards are high enough, so she plans a military coup to take over. The stories intersect when Max steals computer codes that can control Elysium's systems in order to get aboard the space station and cure himself. Jessica has a sleeper agent, Kruger, played by Sharlto Copley (star of DISTRICT 9), hunt down Max and retrieve the codes. This sci-movie explores many political themes such as the difference of social classes, immigration, overpopulation, and healthcare. The movie does point out some stuff, but it doesn’t beat it over your head. Writer and director Neill Blomkamp (director of DISTRICT 9) does a superb job telling this story. The atmosphere and world feel real. With a perfect blend of real locations and CGI graphics, everything is there to enhance the story. Everything feels convincing and gritty; you can’t help but think the world is real. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie and was very glad to see it on the big screen. But, for some odd reason, something felt a little off about this film. To quote a friend of mine, “It was a fine sci-fi movie, but it was no DISTRICT 9.” I’m not certain why, but maybe it’s the fact the movie does parallel and have similar elements from other science fiction movies, but in any case, this movie is well done in that regard. The cast is good, and the visuals and music are great. You can care for the characters and understand their hardships even if that isn’t your lifestyle. In some ways, you can relate to their struggles. All in all, I’d recommend this movie to any movie fans, especially science fiction fans. This film could almost be science fact-ion. Some real parallels to what’s going on in the world are in here. This movie is worth to see on the big screen and the price of an admission ticket.
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