Elysium



This week we dive into Neill Blomkamp’s filmography as we watched Elysium and discuss the Elysium exoskeleton and the its possible real world applications, how the floating habitat and the Elysium space station is actually inspired from history along with simply reviewing the Elysium movie summary and the Elysium movie cast. So, get a big dose of radiation (don’t really do that), fit yourself for a powered exoskeleton suit and journey to space in this sci-fi action romp!

The Elysium Movie Cast and Director

Matt Damon as Max - The role of Max was originally offered to two individuals from the world of music: South African rapper Watkin Tudor Jones (aka Ninja) who passed on the role and Eminem who also passed on the role after producers refused to have the production based in Detroit. The role then went to Damon who had the action chops from the Jason Bourne series to bring to this film. While we are interested to see what this film would look like with Eminem, at times Damon seems to be phoning it in along with most of the actors.

Jodie Foster as Secretary Delacourt - Foster starts off as the main villain but her character could’ve used more development and screen time as her eventual death does nothing for the audience. We just grow to despise her and there’s nothing sympathetic about her character as it seems like she was written solely for the audience to focus their hatred until Kruger takes over the black hat role.

Sharlto Copley as Kruger - Copley is a frequent collaborator with Blomkamp having previously appeared in District 9 (which is in our list) but he’s relegated to a henchman type role until he kills Delacourt. However, he definitely plays up the insanity of his character and it often overshadows the story and the other characters in his scenes.

Alice Braga as Frey - Sean and Chris feel like Braga provides the only nuanced performance in the entire film as she’s balancing her duties of being a mother and caring for her old friend, Max. She and Max have a past together, but not a ton of screen time is devoted to this and could’ve provided more context why they drifted apart prior to the events of Elysium.

Director Neill Blomkamp - Prior to directing this film, he helmed the wildly successful District 9 which received acclaim for its story and visual effects and Blomkamp along with many of his collaborators returned for Elysium and this was not as well received as District 9. While Blomkamp is a good filmmaker and has great ideas to bring to the big screen, we feel like this was not his best effort so hopefully he can return to Hollywood soon and thrill audiences once again.

Elysium Movie Summary

Set in 2154, Earth has been ravaged by disease and famine. However, the wealthy have retreated to an Earth-orbiting space station called Elysium. Back on Earth though, a factory worker by the name of Max has been involved in a radiation-exposing accident. This leads him left with a deathly fate, unless he can make his way up to Elysium to use the wealthy's technology to cure himself. Along the way, he gets involved and in the way of Elysium's defense secretary's plan for a coup against the current president as she vows to use more power to protect Elysium from the rest of the Earth dwellers. In the end, he doesn't end up saving himself, but instead, saving humanity.

Elysium Themes and Setting