Striving for relevance

Rating: 6/10 (21 August 2013)

Neill Blomkamp's sophomore feature serves more as a statement of intent, than a calling card for future reference. Within the confines of parochial script owing too much to Hollywood epic conclusiveness and too little to the restraint shown with the phenomenal debut of "District 9", Blomkampp struggles to imbue a sense of relevance to a heavily socially-aware storyline.
In the year 2154 with resources strained and class warfare restrained by corporational dictatorship, the rich of the world have shipped themselves off-planet to an idyllic resort called Elysium. Detached from earthly woes and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, seemingly extrapolating Wolverine's rapid healing gene, the wealthy live in a cocoon of self-glee, whilst still gaining dividends from Earth profits. With the accumulation of fortunes brought to an extreme, the rest of humanity is brought to a state of sustainable poverty in a fascist state policed by mechanised droids and system institutions running like clock-work through the use of robot figureheads. In a run-down Los Angeles ex-criminal Max (Matt Damon) tries to straighten out his life. Unfortunately for him a work accident leaves him radiated with but five days of life, needing powerful drugs to keep him functional. Left with few options Max attempts to break through to Elysium to use the almost magical medical capabilities available there. However en route he comes across valuable secrets, which make him the most wanted man in the Solar System....
On several levels "Elysium" is a riveting piece of sci-fi with what - in my opinion - is the best CGI effects ever to be registered on film. Unlike most generic computerised special effects Blomkampp brings some much needed refreshing fingerprint to his animated CGI with trademark Halo-inspired drones, robot, exo-skeletons all moving with such specific swagger, that Blomkampp has cemented his unique style and usurps the right to say that despite the onslaught of special effects this is a rare example of a movie, where the CGI actually functions for the story, not the other way around. Blomkampp's specificity is further underlined by the mixing of the decrepit atrophy of humanity (in the form of squalid slums) seamlessly intersecting with technology of the future, creating a captivatingly hideous world, which lingers in memory far longer than any other modern CGI-bursting picture. Aided with some memorable performances by the wickedly devious Jodie Foster (as Elysium's secretary of defence Delacourt) and the efficient madness of Sharlto Copley as the ruthless South African mercenary-spy Kruger, "Elysium" has multitudes of ingredients for the creation of a sci-fi classic, even to outdo "District 9".
This time however the script turns out to be the biggest let-down for writer-director Blomkampp, who fuses the world around a story, which lacks in creativity, instead making that up with blasts and a needless attempt to 'change the world'. With cumbersome, if morally sound, social messages heavy-handedly bringing attention to the plight of the poor, the increasingly widening wealth gap, the overreach of corporate power as well as to health systems geared towards money, the movie topples into familiar traps, overly relying on Hollywood sci-fi standards to push the message through (unlike for example "Children of Men"). Nonetheless "Elysium" is visually powerful, even stunning, providing belief that a new profound voice for high-octane cinema has emerged. Now all he requires is some aid in delivering a story suitable for his virtuosic use of CGI magic.