Review: Elysium
The summer film Elysium takes the “occupy wall street” mentality to an extreme. Max Da Costa, played by Matt Damon, lives in a futuristic society where the extremely wealthy have distanced themselves so much that they live on a space station orbiting earth known as “Elysium.” The Earth has been left to the extremely poor, who live with very few resources in overcrowded conditions.
Max, like many other impoverished men and women, had dreamed all his life of joining the wealthy and enjoying life on Elysium, the large white object he had stared at longingly in the sky ever since he was a child.
After becoming deathly ill from radiation poisoning, Max Da Costa realizes he must get up to Elysium immediately, where they have healing technology that can quickly heal any illness or injury.
The film is an interesting portrayal of many hot-button topics in society today, such as immigration. Several scenes illustrate the voyage of impoverished families from earth while they voyage illegally to Elysium via space shuttle in search of a better life or health care. Most of the main characters had Hispanic last names as well, making a subtle connection to modern-day immigrants coming into the U.S. It could have been the intention of writer and director Neill Blomkamp, who is most well-known for his film District 9, to voice his opinion on immigration issues today. Other modern day topics may have been purposely addressed in this film such as health care, or even the distribution of wealth.
“I definitely didn’t think Elysium was a step down from District 9,” said Urbana High School Senior Braeden Seaman. “It was still decent though, and I was entertained the whole time.”
Although many fans of District 9 were disappointed with this Blomkamp’s new film, I would recommend Elysium because of its interesting portrayal to political issues in the future, and because I found it to be another entertaining, action-packed Matt Damon thriller.
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