Thoughts on Elysium By Jonathan Smith. I’ll make this essay short, and try to keep it interesting. This may not be possible, especially if you aren’t too big a fan of sci-fi films. But here goes. Although the film was released last year, I have finally made the effort to start watching the “blockbuster” films again. I saw the preview for this some time last year and didn’t give it too much thought. I really am not the biggest Matt Damon fan, and of course he stars in the film. I gave the film a chance today, and I do have to tell you, I was actually impressed. Matt Damon lives somewhere in a dystopian future, and that future is bleak. Of course, right? I can’t think of many films off the top of my head in which the future is bright. Anyhow, Matt Damon is an orphan, meets his soul mate in Los Angeles (which becomes a giant barrio in the future, filled with car thieves and hackers without enough money for a new shirt, but a wall of sixty inch flat-screen televisions) and they get separated. Matt Damon is a prodigious thief, who steels his entire life and catches a couple felonies along with some sweet collarbone tattoos. You know, average stereotypical tough guy who makes bad decisions. So, Matt Damon tries to turn over a new leaf, and manages to find a job in a robot factory. He gets exposed to some deadly radiation and finds out that he only has five days to live, unless he gets to Elysium, a rotating habitat floating in space and only populated with the wealthiest of humans. They have magic medical machines that fix you of every disease, and he goes back to his old contacts to get a ride up to Elysium. He fights the power, has to hack a guys head and steal all the info, some things go awry, and suddenly, I am beyond bored with giving the plot away. Only because I want you to watch this film, and make sure that my interpretation of a few key things aren’t that far off. I just want you to know that this was entirely strange to notice, but they found an antihero named Spider, who is a hacking semi-gangster (with a kind heart of course) who looks exactly like Che’ Guevara. But I was really impressed at the way that the makers of the film, and casting director, and everyone managed to not misrepresent the memory of Che’. This wasn’t the portrayal of freedom fighter, woodsy terrorist Che’. This was the amalgamation of Guevara’s entire lifetime all in one. Willing to use violence for a means to his ends, but the only ends he wanted was for the people of Earth to get the help they needed to not be sick and destitute anymore. He wanted to change the world and hug people with leprosy and all the early life dealings of Guevara. When he ran through Latin America with a chubby man and sent the last of his money home to his girlfriend, and ended his adventures on a raft gifted to them by a leper colony. I don’t want to say much, other than watch this movie. It was entertaining, and like an onion, had some layers that made it something more than a simple pull-no-punches blockbuster. Ps. This is the first essay I have written since high school, and I just really needed a writing exercise tonight. Watch the film, let’s discuss. I may be way off base and simply projecting nonsense onto film characters.
Posted on: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 00:24:42 +0000
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