Elysium - The Review.

Neil Blomkamp finally gets the allegory he always wanted,with his sophomore production titled - Elysium.His debut movie,the oscar nominated, District 9 did not measure up as an apartheid allegory. Elysium in Greek mythology, is a concept of the afterlife. In the movie, however, it is an advanced space station Utopia, where the super rich live faraway from the disease, poverty of a ruined Earth.

The movie spends 20 minutes in typical Blomkamp documentary like fashion, introducing the characters to the audience.During this period, we discover that Elysium's defense is headed by Secretary Jessica Delacourt , who employs a pyscotic South African mercenary Kruger to eliminate the illegal immigrants attempting to reach Elysium. The President Patel disagrees with her methods and threatens to dismiss her, but fires Kruger. Delacourt then convinces Armadyne's CEO, John Carlyle, to write a computer program that can override Elysium's controls and make her Dictator in return for renewing Armadyne's defense contracts on Elysium for the next two hundred years. Carlyle creates and stores the program in his own mind for safekeeping until he leaves Earth for Elysium. 

Meanwhile,Matt Damon plays Max Da Costa, an ex-car thief who lives in the city slum and has a day job at  one of Armadyne's factories. He is assaulted by droid police while on his way to work and deters to a local hospital where he reconnects with his childhood friend ,Frey , who is now is a nurse and has a daughter, Matilda, who is dying of leukemia.He gets exposed to radiation at work and doctors tell him that he has four days to live.

Desperate, Max makes a deal with Spider to steal corporation information from Carlyle in exchange for a  ticket to Elysium. The mission requires Max's ailing body be reinforced with an exoskeleton to improve his movement and strength. The procedure is gruesome but the next day, Max is ready.The heist gets underway. Carlyle's spaceship is brought down before it can make supersonic speed. The crew intercepts the craft as it crash lands. After overwhelming Carlyle's bodyguard droids,proceeds to extract the information from Carlyle's mind by syncing his mind to Max's via an interface. The sync process is tad similar to how one syncs one's iTunes playlist on different devices.

Kruger is sent to stop the robbery and does so effectively.Taking down all but one of the robbers. Max, now a fugitive and badly injured, escapes to his childhood friend's home. Frey treats him of the injuries sustained in the heist. The next day, Frey pleads with Max to escort her daughter to Elysium where she can get cured of cancer. He refuses. and leaves her home.Kruger's probes sight him come out of Frey's home and make chase but he manages to elude them.

Meanwhile Kruger kidnaps Frey. And soon apprehends Max after he surrendered when Spider informed him of the potential value of the information within his mind. With Frey, the child and Max in his custody, Kruger and his crew jet out to Elysium. Closely followed by Spider, who is latched on to a tracking signal on Max's exoskeleton.Kruger's ship crash lands on Elysium when a grenade goes off during a scuffle onboard. Pandemonium ensues . That provides cover for Spider to infiltrate the facility to locate Max who is in the process of having his mind wiped.In the facility , Max is able to overpower the medical staff before the procedure is completed and rendezvous with Spider.

They fight their way to the central control station where they intend to reboot Elysium so that everyone becomes its citizen. Kruger is on their tail though. Present himself as a formable obstacle.I struggled to understand his motivations .After all, he had previously killed his boss, Delacourt,after she scolded him for escalating the situation. He seemed too crazy. Anyway, Max kills him after a melee of fighting while on their way to the central control room.

Uploading the reboot sequence payload from Max's brain to Elysium's computer has the unfortunate side effect of killing him. Knowing the risk, Max gives up his life for "the greater good".His action makes everyone, citizens of Elysium.Med-pods are sent to Earth.

Elysium certainly will have its fair share of fans.I expected more from Neil. The movie fell short of the high standards set by District 9. At times, it felt like a regurgitation of that formular. Social themes are rife throughout the film;Class divisions , healthcare and Immigration where explored. It seemed like a stretch at times. Then again, it is just a sci-fi movie. An average one at that.

5.5/10

Sources:Wikipedia

by Chinedu Efoagui