Elysium: My Expectations.

Elysium is a new science fiction film that will be released on August 9, 2013. The  film is written, co-produced and directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9) and stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. Here is a synopsis of the movie courtesy of Wikipedia.

In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on Elysiuma Stanford torushigh-tech space station governed by President Patel (Faran Tahir), in a utopian setting which includes access to private medical machines that offer instant cures, while everyone else lives below on the overpopulated, disease ridden, ruined, “Third World slum”Earth has become. Those who maintain Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens’ lifestyle, even destroying ships that attempt to get there.

After an industrial accident leaves him with a cancer virus, 36-year-old factory-worker and ex-con Max DeCosta (Matt Damon) has only five days to get from Los Angeles to Elysium in order to be cured.Max straps into a powerful exoskeleton and attempts to kidnap a rich businessman (William Fichtner) in order to steal his identity and hijack his way into Elysium. This pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her violent secret police forces, led by Agent Kruger (Sharlto Copley).

My Thoughts: From the director of District 9, a  very original take on the traditional alien invasion movies, comes another gritty dystopian view of Earth’s future. I have said in the past that I generally do not like Science Fiction movies with too strong of a dystopian theme. I have also said there are exceptions and this looks to be one of them. I really like the premise because it does mirror things in our society. Science Fiction often takes current issues and takes a look into the future to see how this problem may get worse in the future if humanity does not address the issue.

With Elysium we have a future where those who have plenty have left the Earth where society has crumbled and poverty and disease reign. Those are concerns of mine as I see the rich getting richer and the poor have less and less opportunity to better themselves. How far will it go? In the movie Matt Damon is sick and dying and the cure for his illness is found off earth in Elysium where the healthy and the wealthy live.

The trailers look very good and I like both Matt Damon and Jodie Foster so my expectations that I will enjoy this movie are pretty high. I only had one concern with one of the trailers I saw. It was actually a featurette. Agent Kruger, who had just tossed out a bomb and yells, “It was only a Flesh wound.” Yes that does sound like dialog that could be from any popcorn munching action movie starring Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, but that wasn’t my problem. My problem with the line was that it sounded as if Sharlto Copley was channeling comedian Dana Carvey when he said it!

This movie seems to be a gritty science fiction action adventure movie with a premise I find interesting and unless it is executed in a manner that I find boring, like getting bogged down too much in politics, I don’t think I will dislike this movie.

Summer Blockbuster!!! Part 2

 After Earth (June 7, 2013)

This movie is directed by M. Night Shyamalan and although he doesn’t have a good track record I do like the premise of this film. I t also has Will Smith and his son Jaden starring in it and for me that is also  a big plus.  A spaceship crash lands on Earth a thousand years in the future, encountering a completely different environment overrun by animals and a mysterious threat. The trailers look fantastic and I’m really excited for it.

This is The End (June 12, 2013)

One of the interesting aspects of this science-fiction comedy is that the cast, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Michael Cera, Danny McBride, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, plus plenty of other celebrity guests, all play themselves in this end of the world romp. They are all attending a party at the house of James Franco when the end of the world happens. This R rated comedy has been directed by Seth Rogen from a script he co-wrote with  Evan Goldberg. This looks to be very hilarious!

World War Z  (June 21, 2013)

Lately Zombies are everywhere and now here comes a movie about a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by zombies. Now I am not really into the zombie craze but I must say, this movie, starring Brad Pitt, does look pretty good from the trailers I have seen. So I will be giving this a  look. This movie is based on  a book, written by Max Brooks.

Elysium (August 9, 2013)

This is from the same filmmaker who brought us District 9.  Elysium is a dystopian look at a futuristic society where the poor struggle to live on Earth and the wealthy live in idyllic conditions aboard a floating space station called Elysium. This stars  Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. The trailer was just released and it looks amazing. This is another of my must see movies!  

Monster University (June 21, 2013)

Mike & Sully are back! This prequel to Monster’s Inc has been long overdue. There is not much done by Pixar that I do not like. Monster’s Inc has always been one of my favorites. This movie shows thew College Years of Mike and Sully, at first they are rivals, lets see them become friends. Lets hope lightning strikes twice and that this is a hit!! Billy Crystal and John Goodman return to supply the voices to Mike and Sulley

I am sure other movies will also come out that I want to see and I will post them as I become aware of them. I will be keeping track of these movies and at the end of the summer I will see how well they did at the box office.

What’s in the Hopper?

More Robocop news. It is being reported that RoboCopis being pushed back until 2014. The movie is in production right now and its original release date was August 9, 2013. Elysium, a science fiction film starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Wagner Moura, Alice Braga and Diego Luna will take that release date instead. No news was given to why it was pushed back. Sometimes things like this are a sign of trouble with the film…but not always. Speaking of Robocop, the London Daily Mail has released pictures of Robocop on his motorcycle. I do have to say I like the look. Not much in the news today folks.

I recently did some art work so today I will share my picture of a monster/dragon I drew.

 

 

Elysium news from Comic-Con

I posted a while back about a science fiction movie called Elysium.  There has been footage shown at Comic-Con and a picture released. The movie stars Matt Demon as a worker at a robot factory in a dystopian future. Orbiting the Earth is a place where all the wealthy people live and the station is called Elysium. Demon’s character develops cancer and has a short time to live unless he can get up to Elysium for good medical care and healing. This is a story about the 99% vs the 1%.

Here is a repeat of the synopsis I posted a while back. 

In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard the government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

The movie comes out March 2013. 

Synopsis Revealed For Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium

There is a new science fiction movie coming out next year (March 2013) made by the same people that brought us District 9 a few years ago. So far only the title has been know and the fact that it is a science fiction film…until today!!

In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard the government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

More info in this article:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Synopsis-Revealed-Neill-Blomkamp-Elysium-31420.html