Neil Blomkamp packs an emotional punch with his new film ELYSIUM gritty visuals with something missing in the formula.
The film is a roller coaster ride of emotion with Matt Damon's Max as the central POV. There's a lot of cool moments in the film but I feel that there's a missing piece in the movie that could've made it really, really stunning. Still, as it is, the movie is a smart addition to the sci-fi genre and poses an important question. "What gives the rich the right to deprive the poor?" THE GOOD - Matt Damon's take on the character was nice. Not awesome just nice. Blomkamp and co. definitely made the right choice for casting Damon as the down-on-his-luck Max. The actor channels 'tortured hero' pretty good.
- It's nice to see Diego Luna back in Hollywood movies again. The Y Tu Mama Tambien star has been absent for a while now and seeing him on screen was nice. Too bad the dude hasn't really broken into Hollywood big leagues. - Sharlto Copely was a great villain here in Elysium. His Krueger is menacing and annoying at the same time. Plus points for his insane looking gear which includes a force field and a sinister sword/machete. - The visuals here were top notch. Really worked extremely well with the IMAX technology. Giving twice the dose of greatness because it played on the Blomkamp's penchant for using wide angle establishing shots.
- Another Blomkamp related remark. Props to the director's consistency when doing sci-fi stuff. He just love dumpsite/ Payatas looking setting. Made me suddenly wish that Blomkamp's location crew discovers Payatas and other outlying dumpsites and use that for the setting of his other sci-fi flicks. - I love the meta/ visual representation of the social classes here. The rich are so far away, so isolated and so ABOVE everything in Elysium while the poor live in crappy living quarters where they die needlessly. That actually is a good mirroring of current events and society. I'll give like a hundred points on Blomkamp for doing this movie. THE BAD
- Seriously they marketed the film as a movie with Jodie Foster but the actress was barely there. Hell, William Fitchner had more stuff going on here than Foster. I'd say that was a total waste of good casting. They could have tried somebody else to deliver all those lines Foster just wasted. And if you're hoping for a juicier villain role for this Academy nominated actress, you're in for a hell of a disappointment.
- For the love of god I had a hard time understanding Copely's dialogues. Yeah, the actor played Krueger pretty damn well but they could've toned down the accent by a bit. Another case of good acting thrown down by bad accents. - If you're expecting more slam bang action here in ELYSIUM you'll seriously be disappointed because whatever trailer you've seen, those are the only key action scenes. They should've left out other stuff like this for when people actually see the movie and not before.
Verdict: (- B) I'm good with ELYSIUM. Something OK, but not something to write home about. It's a decent film with lots of things going on and a big social commentary as well. But if you'll be seeing the movie for the sci-fi fight scenes and exoskeleton man breaking down robots then you'll surely be disappointed. BUT AGAIN, I can't stress enough that the movie is exceedingly good if you don't throw it amongst other science fiction films that came out lately.
Special thanks to Columbia Pictures Philippines for the invitation and for the photos. ELYSIUM now showing!
Matt Damon takes on the lead role of Max in TriStar Pictures' futuristic action thriller “Elysium” whose socio-political message underneath the gripping action scenes isn't lost on the actor.
“I like to think it’s a hopeful message,” Damon says. “Even in a future where it’s every man for himself, it’ll be possible for a human being to hold on to his humanity.” In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max, an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well. At the center of the chaos on Earth, between the two worlds, is Max. “Max needs to get to Elysium to save himself, but in his desperation, he gets involved in a plot that makes him realize that the problem is much bigger than him,” says director Neill Blomkamp. “And he ends up fighting for something more than himself, fighting to save other people on Earth.” “Max, like a lot of people on Earth, has always aspired to get to Elysium,” says Damon. “That was his dream. But he grew up. You get the idea that he’s been a petty criminal, but on an Earth where resources are so scarce that everybody’s hustling in some way, he’s just doing what he’s got to do to get by. He’s been beaten up by life and now, he’s resigned to his life on Earth. He doesn’t dream about Elysium anymore. But in the movie, he’s put in a position to become the only person who can change things.” Max is an entirely different look for Damon – shaven, tattooed, muscle-bound. “Neill was very specific about every detail and how he wanted the character to look,” says Damon. “He provided us all with pictures of the characters. I don’t think anybody had ever done that for me before – literally handed me a picture of the character with his shirt off. So I went to my trainer and I said, ‘Make me look like that,’ and a great trainer can do that.” Damon says that he was inspired to join the project by the chance to work with Blomkamp. “Like everybody, I saw `District 9,' and like everybody, I freaked out,” he says. “Neill jumped to the top of the list of people that I wanted to work with. So when I heard that he wanted to meet with me about his next movie, I met him for coffee. He pulled out a kind of graphic novel that he had designed himself that explained the whole world of Elysium. He’d designed it all, built it all already. He just needed us to help him bring it to life. And that was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” Matt Damon has been honored for his work on both sides of the camera, most recently earning Academy Award®, Screen Actors Guild Award® and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of South African rugby hero Francois Pienaar in Clint Eastwood’s true-life drama “Invictus.” In addition, he also garnered dual Golden Globe Award nominations that year: one for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Invictus” and one for Best Actor for his starring role in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!” Earlier in his career, Damon won an Academy Award® for Best Screenplay and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Actor, both for his breakthrough feature “Good Will Hunting.” Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 04, “Elysium” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.
Now we finally find out why Matt Damon's character is seen wearing that robotic frame thanks to the new trailer for Columbia Pictures' Elysium directed by District 9 director Neill Blomkamp.
The science-fiction thriller “Elysium” starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster has launched its second trailer which can be viewed here . In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) will stop at nothing to preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium – but that doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in by any means they can. Max (Matt Damon) agrees to take on a life-threatening mission, one that could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
Columbia Pictures' upcoming science-fiction thriller “Elysium” starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster releases its teaser trailer which can be viewed here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmbbjECrCmo.
In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) will stop at nothing to preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium – but that doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in by any means they can. Max (Matt Damon) agrees to take on a life-threatening mission, one that could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
