Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, William Fichtner
Director: Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Drama
Year: 2013
“Elysium” is a science fiction/action movie starring Matt Damon. Now, I’m not a huge Matt Damon fan in particular but I can say that I am a huge fan of the “Bourne” series. “Elysium” is directed by Neill Blomkamp who also directed “District 9” which I thought was very good. So was “Elysium” just as good or better?
Story: In the year 2154, the world has changed a lot from the world as we knew it. Cities are polluted and most people are living in poverty. All of the wealthy people have left Earth and taken residence on a man-made space station (called Elysium) high above Earth, where everyone has a beautiful house and there is relative peace. Matt Damon has dreamed of living on Elysium since he was a child but is stuck on Earth as a factory worker. One day he has an accident where he is exposed to radiation and the only way he can survive is to go to Elysium and heal himself.
If you have seen “District 9”, then you will be familiar with how this movie was filmed. It has a very real look and you feel like you are living in the disastrous conditions that the people on Earth are living in. As in “District 9” with the aliens, “Elysium” has robot police officers that are also very life-like. This aspect of the movie kept me interested throughout the whole film.
Matt Damon did a fine job in the lead role although we didn’t see anything new from him. Some of the fighting scenes were a little unrealistic but I have come to expect that from action movies. The main villain is played by Sharlto Copley, who you might remember as the lead character from “District 9.” He also did a good job as a bad guy this time and added a little humor to the role as well. Jodie Foster is a government official on Elysium whose job is to keep out unwelcome citizens from Earth. Her character has an unusual accent so actually I wasn’t even aware that it was Jodie Foster until I looked it up on imdb.com!
“Elysium” was an entertaining film overall, but the major themes of the movie didn’t sit with me too well. The movie was sending a heavy message of socialism which Matt Damon also champions in his real life. I don’t mind his action movies, but I wish he could do more movies like “Goodwill Hunting.”
The special effects were very good and the music was also fitting. There are many other science fiction/action movies I would prefer watching like “District 9”, “World War Z”, or “Avatar.” I would only recommend “Elysium” to fans of Matt Damon and people who have already seen the movies I mentioned above. If you do decide to rent it, enjoy the action scenes but don’t invest too heavily in the story and realism.
Score: 5/10
What did YOU think of “Elysium”?
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Vocabulary for Study:
- poverty
- radiation
- disastrous
- unrealistic
- to sit with (someone)
- socialism
- to champion
- realism
Study and Learn English with “Elysium on Blu-Ray!
