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| Image courtesy of TriStar Pictures |
I was a big fan of Neill Blomkamp’s District 9. So was Peter Jackson (producer), so I feel
I’m in decent, qualified company. His
gritty, realistic sci-fi cinematography combined with usually seamless and
immersive CGI/ special effects makes for a fantastic medium to deliver his
vision of the story. Complimenting the
visuals is the depth of humanity that Blomkamp manages to convey in the
characters he is putting into these scenes.
Whether it is Sharlto Copley’s Wickus Van De Merwe in District 9 or Matt Damon’s Max in Elysium, we are watching real people in
challenging, emotionally-charged interactions throughout the movie.
There is no time wasted prior to
establishing the parallels of the modern day divide between the haves and the
have-nots, and Blomkamp’s desolate Earth packed with the 99% while the 1% crowd
enjoys all the perks of the space station Elysium, which includes the sort of
all-encompassing healthcare that can do anything for you. Provided you are part of the 1%.
Elysium security is headed up by Jessica
Delacourt (Jodi Foster), carrying a slightly maniacal, do-what-it-takes
attitude wherever she goes—butting heads with the president, issuing covert
commands, and ultimately looking out for no one but herself. I really felt her character could have just
made Jack Nicholson’s speech from A Few
Good Men and it wouldn’t have seemed out of place. You know the speech I mean… the one where
Maverick couldn’t handle the truth.
Far better, I thought, is Copley’s turn as
Kruger. A psychotic agent working for
Delacourt stationed down on Earth.
Kruger’s mind breaks even further as the movie continues and Max (Damon)
attempts to make a risky trip from Earth to Elysium.
How does Max’s journey go? Well, you’ll
just need to go watch Elysium if you want to know. It is
the movie, and I don’t like putting spoilers down.
Other notable thoughts were that I neither
liked nor disliked the score. Ryan Amon
now has one movie under his belt for Composer, so it will be interesting to see
if he sticks in this genre, if Blomkamp uses him again, or if he goes a
different direction entirely.
It is always entertaining to see a
“future” movie’s choice of product placement, too. Apparently GMC is still around in the year
2154. So is Homeland Security—I bet you
are all feeling safer now. Bugatti and
Nissan find homes as well. I know there
were more, but I don’t remember them.
They didn’t feel out of place, though.
I was curious enough about this, so looked things up on Blomkamp’s
choices. Apparently there were some
pretty conscious thoughts going into it, and I would suggest doing a search to
see why he made his choices.
I really enjoyed this movie, and like many
sci-fi features, I would recommend catching it on the big screen. I’m giving this: 8.5 out of 10
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