Elysium.
Elysium, a perfect world reserved only for those who can afford it.
This movie takes place in a dystopian future, where Earth has been utterly ruined after years of abuse from humans. Another man-made world in space, named Elysium after the “paradise in hell” from Greek mythology, separates the wealthy from the poor. As the name implies, Elysium is basically a perfect world, with technology so advanced that cancer patients can be treated within seconds. On the other hand, the barren Earth is filled with slums, with no laws to restrain the criminals that run rampant. In the middle of all this is Max Da Costa (Matt Damon), a man whose lifetime wish is to one day go to Elysium.
Get some more info or watch the trailer here, if you like.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm
I’m going to keep this spoiler-free as possible, so worry not and read on!
Now, while the trailer and plot may seem exciting, I would have to say the movie is less-than-stellar. It’s dull at times, and I felt nothing between the protagonist and his romantic interest. It starts off moderately interesting, until the storywriters just had to ruin it and create a trigger that causes the once reasonable-minded main character to become suicidal. Yikes. It’s a little difficult to sympathize with a character when their actions are totally reckless and don’t even seem beneficial in the slightest.
Wonder how they attached that machine to his body? I’ll tell you this; it wasn’t exactly pleasant to watch.
To be completely honest, I had no idea that this movie was rated “R” before I watched it. You can probably guess what happens next. About thirty minutes into the movie, I was greeted by the delightful image of a person’s body exploding in all directions; yes, blood, guts, and all.
Gross.
Somehow, after much screaming and eye-closing, I managed to make it past all the gory scenes to the end, which I found was surprisingly satisfying. It was enough to wrap things up nicely
But hey; don’t get me wrong. The movie wasn’t awful. There were still some scenes worth watching, and the action scenes were pretty intense. But overall, I thought that the execution was sloppy, and could have been pulled off a little better.
While its unique sci-fi setting and story both have potential, the producers of Elysium just couldn’t tap into it to make it achieve the five-star rating it deserved. If you care more about action and gore than plot, it may be worth to take a look at. However, in my opinion, Matt Damon makes a better Jason Bourne than a Max Da Costa.
Jess | C 