A Great Sophomoric Effort from Neill Blomkamp

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2013)

Director Neill Blomkamp set the world on fire in 2009 with his surprise sci-fi box office hit District 9, which would later collect four Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Now in 2013, Blomkamp has returned with a new sci-fi film, Elysium, with names people know, including Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.
Elysium's exposition shows us that in the late 21st century, Earth has become overpopulated and terrible to the point where only the rich can go to a fancy space station called Elysium, where they also have Med-Pods that cure people almost instantly. The film then focuses on Max (Matt Damon), an ex-con who lives in an overpopulated and devastated Los Angeles. Max works for Armadyne, the company who provides robots and weapons to Elysium. On his way to work, Max is stopped by robot police officers and an altercation results in a broken arm. While at the rundown hospital in Los Angeles, Max reconnects with a childhood friend, Frey (Alice Braga), who has a daughter dying from leukemia.
When some ships try to illegally bring Earth citizens to Elysium, Secretary of Defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster) orders sleeper agent Kruger (Sharlto Copley) to shoot down the ships as they return. Shortly after, the president yells at Delacourt and fires Kruger. Delacourt is out to be sure that Elysium is protected and her integrity is intact. Delacourt then convinces billionaire John Carlyle (William Fichtner) to write a program that will make her president and in return, Elysium's contract with Armadyne is renewed for 200 more years. Carlyle does so, and keeps it in his head (literally) until he returns to Elysium.
After Max is forced into a task he doesn't wish to do, he exposed to a deadly level of radiation and is told he only has five days left to live. Max then seeks the help of Spider (Wagner Moura) to get him to a Med-Pod. The film then primarily is about Max's mission to make it to Elysium to be saved and make things right.
Neill Blomkamp shows his excellence as a storyteller and shows his expertise in the sci-fi genre. He knows how to keep the story interesting and as a writer, knew how to keep the story flowing. Blomkamp shows that he is a directing talent to be kept an eye on for a long time, and I look forward to whatever he makes next. If I had to pick between Blomkamp's two films, I still pick District 9.
Matt Damon as the lead in this film shows why he is one of today's best leading men. While Max is not as much of a stretch compared to other roles he has done, it shows that Damon can still lead the film, and works great with his on screen partners. Jodie Foster is quite different in her role as the ruthless Delacourt, who will stop at nothing to keep Elysium entitled to only the rich. She shows that she is still one of the best living actresses. Sharlto Copley is the MVP as Kruger the bounty hunter. I loved how I had no idea what Kruger was going to do next, thanks to Copley's menacing take on the character.
From a technical standpoint, there are many great things about Elysium. DP Trent Opaloch does some very nice camera work here. The editing by Julian Clarke and Lee Smith is exciting and does great at keeping a nice pace. I think the best of all the technical aesthetics was the production design by Philip Ivey.