Elysium. A conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by certain Greek religious and philosophical sects and cults. Initially separate from the realm of Hades, admission was initially reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes. Later, it expanded to include those chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life, and indulging in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life. (Thanks again Wikipedia)
This space-station world, at odds with the filthy, poverty-riddled Earth mainland seems a sound stepping off point for a really meaty Sci-fi satire, or at least a social conscience drama. So why is it so unsatisfying? I'll see if I can work this out in the next few paragraphs (I'm still not quite sure, if I'm honest).
Due to the need to pick over the bones of this film, there'll be some spoilers to follow.
I reckon Elysium is let down quite a lot by its 3rd act. As a quick outline, the 1st act is mainly scene-setting, exposition, introducing characters, etc. Stomach-churning flashback sequence aside, this is the strongest part of the film. It ends with a hostile, 'STOP THE BOATS' defence of Elysium (or Abbot's Brave New OZ), sanctioned by Jodie Foster's government Minister, who consequently earns a political rebuke. This pisses her off a bit and makes her ropey dialogue go out of sync on a few occasions (bad ADR, I guess).
The 2nd act goes over Matt Damon's fatal work-related injury (wouldn't have happened under a Labor government) and his attempts to get himself to Elysium and patched up quick-smart (illness seems to be a thing of the past there). Again, a pretty solid act, which also expands on Sharlto Copley's introduction from act 1. He plays a very exaggerated hard case operative who Foster uses for her dirty work. There are some nice examples of Blomkamp's stylistic mechanics and munitions here as Damon and Copley square up to one another. Gritty, dusty and odd, though Copley acts as though he's in another film. He really chews the scenery, whereas the rest of the cast seem to be playing it very seriously. He even has to shout "That's what I'm talking about!" like Will Smith in a bad cop actioner from the 90's. The SAF accent is good to hear though. This act ends with Damon accepting the lift to Elysium, where he's joined by an old love interest AND HER SICK DAUGHTER. More motivation, Matt? The upper case means I'm shouting at the screen here, in case anyone doesn't get it;)
3rd act. Here's where Elysium loses its way. It turns into a saccharine mess, like Blomkamp ate too many jelly babies and then threw up on his keyboard. The perfunctory climactic fight scene has nothing new to add to this old device - it even looks glittery (!) - and right after this the music begins to soar with faux emotion as the old love interest spirits her daughter (IN SLOW MOTION) to the machine that will save her life. Meanwhile, the data code protection that Damon has been carrying in his enhanced head is about to make him the sacrificial Futurism Jesus. Add a Utopian ending with shiny robots helping to heal Earth's poor masses and a return to the sepia-toned flashback of Damon's NUN-ASSISTED childhood and you get a noble failure of a film.
A real shame, as District 9 was quite good and kept its message running throughout. Hopefully, Blomkamp's next film, Chappie, will have more prawn and less sugar.
