The promised land isn't all it's cracked up to be in director Neil Blomkamp's dystopian sci-fi fantasy, Elysium.
ON CONTINUITY
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THE PONTIFICATOR (TP): Well said Vader. The “continuity” of this film is the parallel to the real life, here-and-now issues society is dealing with today. This film screams at you to be heard as it makes statements about corporate corruption, health care, politics, immigration, and classism. The future setting gave it more pinnace as it bedazzled, but the looking glass was clear nonetheless.
CASTING, DIRECTING AND ACTING
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SPECIAL EFFECTS
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TAKING A DEEPER LOOK
AV: Down to brass tacks, this movie is NOT about space stuff, technology and robots as stated earlier. All of those things exist in Elysium but they aren't the real story. This story is about the awful–downright criminal–lengths wealthy people often go through to keep what they have away from the rest of us. It's about closed borders, illegal immigration and the inequity of class warfare. Elysium makes a point of calling out the subjugation of the majority by the privileged Elite. It's the story of the 'other 99%' and it's done well.
Liberal advocate, Jodie Foster dials in a ho-hum performance but Matt Damon's conflicted character is redeemed on the hero's journey. In the end, we are faced with the solution being a software reboot and not actual people being the problem. All it would take is another system reboot and we are right back where things were and that is downright bogus to me. Thoughts, P-Man?
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Corporations are running amok and gaining more influence daily over the lives of everyday people. The same people that make their success possible, and yet for whom they show little regard. Health care remains a hot-button issue today, the level of which is received is directly tied into our financial viability. Politics remains about those in power maintaining their position of such, and catering just enough to the masses to make them think it is otherwise. Immigration remains a problem as those with needs, but without means, seek to go (illegally) where those needs can be met (taking nothing away from the privileged as it seems nobody is ever home on Elysium). Class remains the divide as the wealthiest of us seek to separate and isolate themselves, while also subjugating everyone else. Yes... these are the messages of Elysium, shown as the final destination if things continue to progress as they are. This film is easily one of the most profound ever reviewed here.
PONTIFICATOR’S SPECIAL OBSERVATION: I have friends that are in law enforcement and have great respect for the job they do, but this film makes it a point to highlight the degrading image of the profession by having the positions (police, parol officers, security) performed solely by robots, that emulate the very worst in abuse and brutality that humanity can offer. The irony being that we freely create the very instruments that deprive us of freedom. Seen in the film as robots, seen in reality as the decisions we make once in a position of upholding and enforcing the law.
ON SEQUELS
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RATE IT!
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THE PONTIFICATOR rates Elysium: Profound in it’s messages, entertaining in it’s effects... and engaging in it’s direction and acting, this film was so much better than I expected that I was left sitting in my seat thinking to myself... wow. It provokes serious thought about where we are today as a society, and where we might be going... busting eight (8) blocks on the way there.
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ELYSIUM: 8 / 10 Busted Blocks
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