Elysium

Elysium marks Neill Blomkamp's second time in the feature length director's chair, and it seems he has brought plenty with him from 2009's District 9 (not least it's leading man, Sharlto Copley). Altogether bigger budgeted and better equipped, Elysium is set in another dystopian future, with the human elite lording it from the heavens aboard an idyllic space station called Elysium. Underneath, amid an overpopulated (District 9?), multinational-company controlled (District 9?) Earth, a small group of smugglers and rebels plan to incite a revolution (District 9?) in defiance of the wealthy's all encompassing monopoly over medical treatment and health care (Obamacare?). Truth be told, it's very difficult to tell whether there is actually an intended political statement at the heart, or just an overactive metaphor gland.

While it may look like Elysium borrows many themes from Blomkamp's previous offerings, in truth, the concept is pretty novel, and retains his signature feel of something quite fresh and different. On the other side of the coin however, and picking up the role that was presumably written for serially typecast Sigourney Weaver is Jodie Foster, whose passive-aggressive Secretary of Defence follows a such a standard character profile that her entire script could probably have been airlifted in from nearly any other 'man vs. the system' franchise and still made complete sense.

As is TFC tradition, Elysium does gain some decent points for the gratuitous shots of Matt Damon's half naked body. Sadly though, any gains from those scenes are lost phenomenally quickly thanks to an absolutely grotesque surgical sequence where a metal exoskeleton is fused with his body. Outside of that monstrosity though, the film remains pretty good looking, with some nice special effects, and enough gritty realism elsewhere to make you appreciate them. In terms of the story itself, subtlety is certainly not plentiful, with all the key story moments rather feeling like they were being hammered home. Even more upsetting however, was having to watch the perfectly capable Michael Shanks hover ineffectually in the background as what seemed to be nothing more than a named extra.

Overall, Elysium offers a perfectly effective science fiction movie-going experience, bringing just enough novelty to the table to keep it feeling fresh versus the competition. Save the thirty seconds of revolting surgery-porn, and an under-utilised actor I favoured in my childhood, there's plenty enough under the proverbial bonnet to warrant at least a single viewing.

Jodie Foster does her best Sigourney Weaver impression

Vital Statistics
Director	Neill Blomkamp
Cast	Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley
Length	109 mins
Post Credits Scene	None
TFC Mash-Up	District 9 meets Fight Club, with a bit of Bourne thrown in
Star Rating