Title: Elysium (15)
Year: 2013
Running Time: 105 minutes
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Cast: Matt Damon (Max), Jodie Foster (Delacourt), Sharlto Copley (Kruger)
Notes: Won a Leo award.
Rating: 7
Thoughts: In 2154 the wealthy live on a space station whilst the rest live on a ruined Earth. One man tries to bring equality.
Well like so many sci-fi films with a decent budget, this looks great. In addition, Foster is suitably nasty as the Defense Secretary.
The Director conjures up a grotty-looking Earth, akin to his previous work on District 9. The story too is a good one as a terminally ill Max strives to reach the space station to get treated, joining the thousands that try, and fail, to get there.
Damon's character is set up well but he soon seems to lose any of those traits and becomes one-dimensional, the script mostly at fault as it moves from scene-setting to action. Other characters then come and go, with little interest in any of them.
It's odd really as this starts well as everything is set up but then falls apart as the story progresses. It's like they forgot that the wealthy are at odds with everyone else, and it's just about the action.
This could have so easily been a classic but fades instead, a weak script combining with a story shift.
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