Entertaining Sci-Fi That's Certainly Underrated

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2013)

Elysium (2013)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
The setting is 2154 and Earth is pretty much a dumping ground for the sick and the poor while Elysium, a space station built by the rich, contains the perfect lifestyle. When he finds himself dying and needing to get to the planet, Max (Matt Damon) decides to take it on himself to try and combine the two worlds. I guess I'm going to be in the minority because I found director Neil Blomkamp's DISTRICT 9 to be good but quite overrated whereas I found ELYSIUM to be incredibly entertaining, rather smart and full of terrific action so in many ways I think it's rather underrated by the majority of the people out there. Yes, I will admit that the story isn't the strongest in the world and yes I will admit that the ending doesn't quite pack the punch everyone was hoping for but there's still no question that this is a highly entertaining gem. I think the strongest thing is obviously the special effects, which are quite flawless for the majority of the film. I really thought the director did a brilliant job at building up this futuristic world by giving it a terrific look but he also made you believe the setting, the conditions of the people in it and he managed to do this on the rich space craft as well. Another major plus are the action scenes, which are beautifully filmed with the director putting the 2.35:1 cinematography to perfect use. Yet another strong point are the performances with Damon leading the way as the hero. I thought the actor was extremely believable in the part and while this role isn't going to land him an Oscar, seeing such a strong actor in the role does make it much better. Jodie Foster is good in the role of the villain but I will admit her accent was strange to say the least. Sharito Copley, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura and William Fichtner are all very good in their supporting roles. The film certainly contains some political elements, which are thankfully never too preachy but at the same time it leads up to an ending that really doesn't work. ELYSIUM seems to be getting attacked by some because "it's not as good as DISTRICT 9" but this here is somewhat unfair. When viewed on its own I think the film perfectly lives up to the director's strong vision making it a must see.