In 2154, Elysium is a space station orbiting Earth inhabited by the Earth’s richest, while the poor inherit a dirty, over populated, ravaged surface. Los Angeles, even downtown has been relegated to a massive favela.
To deal with a weary underprivileged population, the powers that be have robotized most of the public services work staff. Every people-facing civil servant is an android whether it’s the Department of Paroles’ counter-person or the patrolling police officer. Smart enough to detect the slightest ounce of sarcasm, they will prosecute any chance they get.
People, impoverished people are still exploited to work in factories. And when they get home, only their broken down dilapidated shacks await them. There are those who are wealthier than others, naturally, but they live in fear of losing their wealth or even their lives. So they invest heavily in security to protect themselves against murderers, robbers, smugglers and outlaws in general who seem to comprise about half the population on Earth.
And as a projection of what’s to come, Los Angeles’s population has turned predominantly Hispanic. Spanish has taken the English language’s place on the tongues of most Angelenos (citizens of the city). Realization of every red-neck’s nightmare.
Matt Damon’s character Max is just a white dude, a minority now, in the almost lawless city of Los Angeles. Turning his back away from a life of crime, Max now seeks an honest living working as a technician in a factory. But in true commentary on extreme capitalism’s demerits, where profit trumps employee well-being, Max’s fate would take the wrong fork in the road.
One day, in the factory, the production line came to a halt due to a malfunction in a radioactive chamber. Max was challenged by his supervisor to enter into that chamber to unjam the chamber door from the inside. As it usually happens, the jammed door came unstuck, Max gets trapped, and the radioactive process thing continues, baking Max alive.
After being dragged out by a medical android, he was only given 5 days to live after being exposed to a lethal amount of radiation. Max, who was trying to play it straight, had been betrayed by the system, the Man, unregulated capitalism. So no more Mr. Nice Guy.
While healthcare on Earth is limited to crammed hospital wards and 21st century technology (and human doctors), in Elysium all it takes to cure cancer or perform facial reconstruction is to lie on a bed for a few minutes, and let the wonder machine diagnose and heal to perfection. Such a powerful machine is installed in every Elysium home, but none to be found on Earth.
Elysium, why is it so special? Far removed from the realities of The International Space Station currently in orbit, Elysium is paradise orbiting Earth. Elysium is a large doughnut-shaped spinning wheel modelled after the Stanford Torus. By spinning around an axle connected by 4 architectural spokes, artificial gravity could be produced allowing residents to live with near to Earth’s gravity.
If you were to cut a cross section of the wheel, you would find several stories. However, the top story is the most interesting. It resembles a curved inverted surface of the world, the world of a luxurious gated community replete with manicured lawns and wading pools. Most fascinatingly Elysium torus has a contained atmosphere which opens into space. I was looking for some kind of membrane or ‘force field’ but it doesn’t seem to be featured in the show. Because without it, there’s no possible way atmospheric pressure can be contained in Elysium.
Instead of having docking bays, spaceships can supposedly just glide right into the fake atmosphere. While Elysium seems to have been around for some time, an advanced space station such as this didn’t seem to have any predecessors i.e. Elysium 2.0, 3.0 etc.
The rich and famous of Elysium include the elected President of a United Earth, the fiendish Secretary of Defense, Mdm Delacourt played by Jodie Foster with a bad French accent (but excellent French though) and many filthy rich oligarchs whose businesses are primarily headquartered on Earth. And to ferry them back and forth, all it takes is a 20-minute ride on a one-seater shuttle craft. Earthlings are absolutely banned from entering Elysium.
After Max’s exposure to the radiation, his only hope to outlive his 5 day impending death sentence is to smuggle himself on an illicit flight to Elysium, break into a home and use that cure-all wonder machine. But before that, he has to collude with his former gang boss and have a mech suit surgically attached to his body. Gruesome stuff.
The plot thickens when he is reconciled with his old female childhood friend who is now a nurse and has a sick daughter which can only be cured on Elysium, duh. Without revealing too much, I should only say that it smells of a typical popcorn summer movie plot riddled with Swiss cheese sized holes.
Mostly unsatisfying and a major disappointment when compared to director Blomkamp’s maiden outfit in District 9. Elysium’s plot tends to over-generalize and stereotype the different characters but never giving them enough depth even Max, the protagonist. The sci-fi is also unbelievable. A do-it-all wonder machine that heals people? Does it mean that Elysium citizens are immortal? That’s a more intriguing story right there.
In this post Dark Knight Era of very artfully crafted villains, Elysium would surely have the worst antagonist ever written. Kruger was supposed to be Delacourt’s black ops agent on Earth. When he first appeared, he seemed no more imposing than an extra on the set. Slowly but surely, Kruger’s character got bigger until he became the primary villain, seizing the role from Delacourt, his former employer. It’s not like he has a great back story or anything, he just got angrier. This isn’t the way to write in a villain.
Elysium barely makes the grade, and is saved by its passable action scenes, but sci-fi wise, an outright reject. 5/10.
To deal with a weary underprivileged population, the powers that be have robotized most of the public services work staff. Every people-facing civil servant is an android whether it’s the Department of Paroles’ counter-person or the patrolling police officer. Smart enough to detect the slightest ounce of sarcasm, they will prosecute any chance they get.
People, impoverished people are still exploited to work in factories. And when they get home, only their broken down dilapidated shacks await them. There are those who are wealthier than others, naturally, but they live in fear of losing their wealth or even their lives. So they invest heavily in security to protect themselves against murderers, robbers, smugglers and outlaws in general who seem to comprise about half the population on Earth.
And as a projection of what’s to come, Los Angeles’s population has turned predominantly Hispanic. Spanish has taken the English language’s place on the tongues of most Angelenos (citizens of the city). Realization of every red-neck’s nightmare.
Matt Damon’s character Max is just a white dude, a minority now, in the almost lawless city of Los Angeles. Turning his back away from a life of crime, Max now seeks an honest living working as a technician in a factory. But in true commentary on extreme capitalism’s demerits, where profit trumps employee well-being, Max’s fate would take the wrong fork in the road.
One day, in the factory, the production line came to a halt due to a malfunction in a radioactive chamber. Max was challenged by his supervisor to enter into that chamber to unjam the chamber door from the inside. As it usually happens, the jammed door came unstuck, Max gets trapped, and the radioactive process thing continues, baking Max alive.
After being dragged out by a medical android, he was only given 5 days to live after being exposed to a lethal amount of radiation. Max, who was trying to play it straight, had been betrayed by the system, the Man, unregulated capitalism. So no more Mr. Nice Guy.
While healthcare on Earth is limited to crammed hospital wards and 21st century technology (and human doctors), in Elysium all it takes to cure cancer or perform facial reconstruction is to lie on a bed for a few minutes, and let the wonder machine diagnose and heal to perfection. Such a powerful machine is installed in every Elysium home, but none to be found on Earth.
Elysium, why is it so special? Far removed from the realities of The International Space Station currently in orbit, Elysium is paradise orbiting Earth. Elysium is a large doughnut-shaped spinning wheel modelled after the Stanford Torus. By spinning around an axle connected by 4 architectural spokes, artificial gravity could be produced allowing residents to live with near to Earth’s gravity.
If you were to cut a cross section of the wheel, you would find several stories. However, the top story is the most interesting. It resembles a curved inverted surface of the world, the world of a luxurious gated community replete with manicured lawns and wading pools. Most fascinatingly Elysium torus has a contained atmosphere which opens into space. I was looking for some kind of membrane or ‘force field’ but it doesn’t seem to be featured in the show. Because without it, there’s no possible way atmospheric pressure can be contained in Elysium.
Instead of having docking bays, spaceships can supposedly just glide right into the fake atmosphere. While Elysium seems to have been around for some time, an advanced space station such as this didn’t seem to have any predecessors i.e. Elysium 2.0, 3.0 etc.
The rich and famous of Elysium include the elected President of a United Earth, the fiendish Secretary of Defense, Mdm Delacourt played by Jodie Foster with a bad French accent (but excellent French though) and many filthy rich oligarchs whose businesses are primarily headquartered on Earth. And to ferry them back and forth, all it takes is a 20-minute ride on a one-seater shuttle craft. Earthlings are absolutely banned from entering Elysium.
After Max’s exposure to the radiation, his only hope to outlive his 5 day impending death sentence is to smuggle himself on an illicit flight to Elysium, break into a home and use that cure-all wonder machine. But before that, he has to collude with his former gang boss and have a mech suit surgically attached to his body. Gruesome stuff.
The plot thickens when he is reconciled with his old female childhood friend who is now a nurse and has a sick daughter which can only be cured on Elysium, duh. Without revealing too much, I should only say that it smells of a typical popcorn summer movie plot riddled with Swiss cheese sized holes.
Mostly unsatisfying and a major disappointment when compared to director Blomkamp’s maiden outfit in District 9. Elysium’s plot tends to over-generalize and stereotype the different characters but never giving them enough depth even Max, the protagonist. The sci-fi is also unbelievable. A do-it-all wonder machine that heals people? Does it mean that Elysium citizens are immortal? That’s a more intriguing story right there.
In this post Dark Knight Era of very artfully crafted villains, Elysium would surely have the worst antagonist ever written. Kruger was supposed to be Delacourt’s black ops agent on Earth. When he first appeared, he seemed no more imposing than an extra on the set. Slowly but surely, Kruger’s character got bigger until he became the primary villain, seizing the role from Delacourt, his former employer. It’s not like he has a great back story or anything, he just got angrier. This isn’t the way to write in a villain.
Elysium barely makes the grade, and is saved by its passable action scenes, but sci-fi wise, an outright reject. 5/10.
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