Elysium

I would love for love to be the answer. Love is definitely part of it. But evil can only be fought with good—and good cannot prevail without sacrifice.

This is the message that writer/director Neill Blomkamp delivers in the SF thriller Elysium (in classical Greek mythology, the blessed dwelling place at the ends of the earth to which certain favored humans were conveyed by the gods).

The moviemaking itself is by the book: The hero, Max, played by Matt Damon, faces insurmountable odds to save the daughter, who is dying of cancer, of his childhood sweetheart. Max must face a ruthless, indestructible mercenary and Jodie Foster (who steals the show) at her alpha-bitch best as Secretary of Defense Delacourt. In the process, Max takes a licking but keeps on ticking.

We saw the movie at an early Sunday matinee, and there were only five of us in the theater. The theater was small, what I would expect in a private screening room on Elysium. I had a bottle of water in my left cupholder, and a box of Raisinets in my right. What unfolded over the next few hours was a movie that was good, trying to be great—and almost making it. Blomkamp competently weaves many of today's hot button issues throughout the thoroughly entertaining fight scenes, gun play, and special effects.

Although the allegory is a little heavy handed (Blomkamp names a corporate CEO Mr. Carlyle, a nod to the infamous Carlyle Group), I couldn't help but smile and wonder how many others picked up on many of his inside jokes. Back on Earth, in a ghetto-ized LA, Spanish is spoken, with English as a second language. And playing on American Francophobia, the primary language on Elysium is French. I repeatedly winced, and fought down a rising anger, as I watched all the things I have been speaking out against, stare back at me from the screen. Failed immigration policies, a militarized robot police force, wealth inequality, healthcare only for the privileged class, total surveillance, unsafe working conditions (Max is exposed to a deadly dose of radiation), corporate greed and collusion with the government, and government employing mercenaries to carry out its dirty work.

The director warns us of the danger in letting loose the dogs of war, even to those who let them off the leash. And of course, the ultimate reminder that freedom is never free.

Movies are not created in a vacuum. And no matter how relevant the message or powerful the vision, the bottom line for greenlighting a project is the expectation of profit. Many of the issues underlying Elysium, are too often relegated to the conspiracy theory fringe. But catering only to that segment of the population, could never carry the movie on its own. Therefore, the powers that be must have determined that the themes of the movie must have appeal to a wider audience.

Will Elysium join the lexicon of great films? No. Will it be long remembered? Probably not. Am I glad I saw it? Yes, because it gives me hope. And after all, what more could you ask.