ELYSIUM(2013)

Elysium

 [3/5 Stars]

" Does his skin fall off? Get him off the bed, I don't want to replace the sheets."

An overpopulated earth, a slum infested earth is what the future looks like at least till 2154, even the skyscrapers are slum-like settlements, that's because the rich don't live in them anymore, they left, left for near immortal lives in an artificial sattelite settlement with highly advanced medical facilities, the Elysium. The film begins with showing us the childhood days of the orphans Max(Matt Damon) and Frey(Alice Braga) who like many childhood friends, promised to be together forever, but as Frey went on to be a nurse, Max, a kid with a dream to leave the Earth for Elysium one day, followed a path that came much easier to him, he became a car thief, a natural as his friends call him, now on parole and often in trouble because he can talk himself into it.

Neill Blomkamp falls short of giving us another sci-fi classic after District 9, but it has it's moments, which deliver quite well. The immigration scenario, is borrowed, probably from the real life scenario of Mexico and USA. The poor who have now inherited the earth, need desperate medical attention and the rich don't want to waste their resources, as a result they employ them to do dangerous jobs, which causes Max to come in contact with radiation and also meet Frey again and this time her daughter as well who too needs desperate medical care. The poor have now however ceased to have human rights as all attempts at illegally boarding the Elysium are met with force and are greeted with certain death.

The film's hero Max wants to save himself from certain death, so he goes to a man named Spider, responsible for illegally immigrating people onto the Elysium, so he can get treatment, but Spider has his own plans and recruits Max's help, offering transport in return, Max agrees, after all a man must do whatever keeps him alive, what follows this is high intensity action as Max tries to steal highly sensitive data which could decide Senator Delacourt's fate, and she must do whatever she can to stop him from bringing it to Elysium as it could cost her, too much is at stake for her and for Max, all that matters is his own life.

Predictable more often than not, it doesn't do a good job at keeping you involved, the cinematography is a plus but the story-line fails, with plenty of plot-holes and a formulaic finish, the film fails to deliver the goods you hope after a thrilling first 35 minutes, while in sync with the current scenario of socio-economic conditions, you end up craving for more. Jodie Foster as Secretary Delacourt and Sharlto Copley as Kruger however with their brilliant performances alongside Matt Damon manage to keep the film together and add more credibility to the script.

Till Next Time. :)