In a year where many were bemoaning the excess remakes, adaptations, etc, there were original works to take in, from the widely celebrated Pacific Rim to the much maligned After Earth. You even had more independent voices in such films as The World's End and Europa Report. In my opinion, one of the most interesting voices to be watching in modern science fiction cinema is Neil Blomkamp, the gentleman who brought us District 9, one of the best science fiction films of the last decade. He stands out for two reasons. First, he has some great technical skills but knows how to produce a beautiful, fully realized cinematic vision on a relatively small budget, a great thing to see in today's bloated billings. Also, he is a guy who is interested in more than pretty visuals, spectacle and blowing crap up. Mr. Blomkamp has things he wants to say, and science fiction is one of the best genres to make pointed commentary about the society we live in. It presents a critique in a metaphorical sense, using the imaginative trappings to slip things to think about past idealogical defenses so in those quiet moments, you might have a moment of your own.
In this case, it is about runaway capitalism, no longer serving the population at large. It is about the upper classes seeking to put as much distance between themselves and everyone else. No normal gated community will do over one hundred years from now, no. Now, it is Earth orbit in a space station where the uber-wealthy live in a paradise, while all others struggle in a crowded, polluted, poverty riddled mess down groundside.
Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) a former car thief now struggling to make a living in a robot factory, is one day mortally injured on the job. At that point, he finds himself in the middle of intrigue, as rebels have captured an exec of the company Da Costa worked for. He possesses computer code that is the key to Elysium. This exec was a key figure in a coup attempt up on Elysium, but is now the gateway to the station. Da Costa accepts modification as a cyborg and membership on an infiltration team to the station, where the technology exists that can save his life.
Yes, the critics are right that the metaphors used here are much more ham fisted as compared to District 9. Perhaps more attention was paid to spectacle and less careful care given to the script. But that's ok. For me, it still works and the issues in question, ultimately, we are all in this together, rich and poor and we need to make it all work for all of us rather than think we can isolate ourselves in class structured hermetic seals. That not only such a thing isn't right, it isn't sustainable, destined to fall apart at some point.
This was one of the winners this year for me.
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