Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (802)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
    TableTop Translator

    TableTop Translator

    Business and Utilities

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Instantly speak another language, with TableTop Translator for iPad. With many languages and...

    SayHi Translate

    SayHi Translate

    Business and Utilities

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Instantly speak another language, for free, with SayHi Translate on iOS! Have a conversation in two...

    OsmAnd Maps

    OsmAnd Maps

    Travel and Navigation

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. OsmAnd...

    Real Cricket™ 17

    Real Cricket™ 17

    Games and Sports

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Real Cricket™ is here and here to stay! We have migrated to a brand new experience with Real...

40x40

JT (287 KP) rated Elysium (2013) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020  
Elysium (2013)
Elysium (2013)
2013 | Drama, Sci-Fi
8
7.0 (18 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Neill Blomkamp came pretty much out of nowhere. Having only directed a handful of shorts he was handed $30m by Peter Jackson and told to make any film he wanted. That offer for any up and coming director would be as good as winning the lottery and he didn’t disappoint, making the dystopian District 9 which went on to become a smash hit.

So when it was announced that his next project would be called Elysium there was much talk, excitement and anticipation about what it would entail. Blomkamp again focuses on a dystopian society, L.A. to be exact (but not an Alien in sight). With Earth quite literally turned into a shit hole it’s ravaged by crime, poverty and disease along with an ever growing population just looking to survive.

The rich and wealthy made their escape from the planet and reside on a beautiful man made space station called Elysium. Here there is no poverty or sickness and one can be cured instantly by stepping into a medical pod. Dropped into all of this is Max (Matt Damon), a former convict who is trying to get by in life but who still holds a fascination that one day he too will get to live on Elysium as we find out through an early back story.

Elysium is an enjoyable ride of thrills and spills and as a sci-fi actioner it ticks all the relevant boxes.

When an accident at work leaves him with only a few days to live he steps back into the criminal underworld in order to get himself a one way ticket onto Elysium and cure himself and in the process become a saviour for the suffering hordes on Earth. Blomkamp sticks with District 9′s Sharlto Copley an actor plucked from obscurity and who has gone on to make a real name for himself. Here he plays sleeper agent Kruger complete with distinguished South African accent and beard.

Pairing up with him from the safe confines of Elysium is Jodie Foster’s Delacourt, the Secretary of Homeland Security whose cool and unassuming personality gives her licence to literally blast people from outer space while drinking tea. She wants her place as the next Elysium president and so enlists the help of the slimy John Carlyle (William Fichtner) who helps to organise a reboot program for the station which falls into the wrong hands.

Blomkamp keeps the story very much as close to reality as possible without overstepping the mark. A world of poverty and hardship with the rich living the high life, sound familiar?

Filmed on location in the slums of Mexico as opposed to South Africa it lends itself to real life and the harsh reality that this isn’t a film set built with a large overblown budget but a place where everyday folk have to live. The action is captivating both on Earth and in space. A car chase and data heist that encounters a flying Bugatti Veyron. While in space, ships explode and crash into the tranquil surroundings of normality (well as normal as you can get in 2154).

The shaven headed Damon gives a good account of himself whether it’s delivering the dramatic line or battling through the action – complete with exoskeleton he is always reliable.