Skip to main content

Elysium

    Hey, everyone. Carley and I went to see the new Matt Damon flick today, which is entitled Elysium. It will be many things to many people and will doubtless be a hit.
    It can be an awesome action film, if that is your cup of tea. A tender romance is what you are seeking? Well, it has that covered as well. You dig the high tech, sci-fi scenes, special effects, apocalyptic doom-watching? Oh sure. How about a healthy dose of social consciousness and morality? (A heaping helping). How about cruelty in the workplace? Or perhaps what the abuse of authority can bring when the 'sin' of slightly disagreeing with the powers that be can get you a trip to the hospital as a troublemaker.
      Yes, this show has all this and more, wrapped up in a violent red bow. I found it to be 5 stars out of 5. Disturbing, unsettling, exhausting to watch in emotional terms. Good, perhaps great, perhaps art. Should you go? Will it be a happy pill that will brighten your day? Yes, to the first question and a 'no' to the second.
      Let me say that the critics are calling it 'bloody violence throughout'. There is violence and I'd recommend that you go to the restroom when Max (Damon) is getting his exo-skeleton attached to his body. It is intense.
     It is 2154 and humanity is divided into Elysium, a space station (the Haves) and earth (the Have-nots). Max is a parolee who is trying to play life straight, working in a robot factory. His cruel boss sends Max into a death trap and the former car thief gets a lethal dose of radiation. This, I found, was memory provoking since I worked in the nuclear industry and saw a lot of training films about radiation, including documentary film footage of the horrible deaths by radiation of individuals.
    So, a robot tosses Max some pills and says "You will be dead within 5 days, thank you for your service". This catch-phrase is used for veterans  all over our society and for others such as policemen. Thank you for your service.
     Max seeks out a ride to Elysium in hopes that he can enter one of their healing tubes. The space station is off-limits to the dregs of earth. Life is perfect there and the ability to heal anyone, but refusing to do so, gives these people a god-like power and attitude. To have the means to heal a child's leukemia and not do so would give a horrid look into one's soul. The personification of Elysium is Secretary Delacourt (Jody Foster). She runs the place and is planning a coup so that she can become President. Cool, for her.
     Max comes into possession of Delacourt's plan and uses his knowledge of it to catch a ride to Elysium. He takes along his childhood sweetheart, Frey (Alice Braga). Frey has a daughter who is dying and needs the healing that only Elysium can provide.
     In our time, on a planet that is running out of resources and rich in people, we as a society are in for some soul searching. Can we decide who eats? Who gets into hospitals? Who has a job? Who is disposable? (And thanks for your service?) This movie is a parable of our world and the world soon to come. It is troubling and thought-provoking, as well as entertaining. See it, but be prepared to be touched, maybe shed a tear; maybe leave the theater sober, reflective, tight-jawed.
    From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
P.S. By the way. Carley just looked up the word Elysium in the dictionary. "The abode of the blessed, after death, in classical mythology."
   

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Review: Limitless

    Hey, everyone. I ventured off the mountain today, down into the haunts of men. I'll tell you about a movie I saw, then later I'll tell you about some other stuff. The movie is Unlimited . This is a story that you would have to call science fiction, but in the not so distant future you may call it reality.      Bradley Cooper plays Edward Morra. If you looked up loser in the dictionary you would see this guy's picture. He has freeloaded off his girlfriend for years. He claims to be a writer but can't seem to put words on paper. His woman leaves him; he is a scroungy, dirty dude with no future, no drive and no money. He is about to be evicted from his scummy apartment.     Then he bumps into an old friend. The friend wants him to try a new drug which comes in the form of a small, clear pill. What Edward doesn't know is that the pill is pretty awesome. The drug is designed to unlock the true potential of the human brain. We only use a...
4 comments
Read more

It's So Easy

     Hey, everyone, out there in etherland. I've been playing some new songs this morning on my keyboard. You may remember a Buddy Holly tune called It's So Easy . I hadn't matched the title to the song before today so I was delighted when I saw that it was the one that goes like this: "It's so easy to fall in love, it's so easy to fall in love." It rocks pretty good. A later version of it, after amps and guitars had improved, really rocked. It seems like Joan Jett may have done a version. Anyway, I was playing this song and I thought about a fun thing I like to do. Sometimes I'll start to play a song and tell Carley, or the grandkids, whoever may be there, a silly story about it.      For instance, I would say that once upon a time Buddy Holly came to me and said, "CE, I need a hit, my man. The kids need shoes. I want to go on American bandstand, you know what I'm saying?"     "Yeah, Buddy, I hear you. But the thing is, I think ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dr. Simon's Exoskeleton (Shadowgun)

    Hey, everyone. Nice to be back with you after a tough, hectic week. We have had some snow, sleet, fog, drizzle, torrential rain and flooding this week.      I'd like to talk, yet again, about Shadowgun , the shooter game for I-Padster. I was much further along than what I thought when I posted about some of the battles yet to be faced for those of you who had just killed the Driller. The fact is that I am on the last level. This level has Dr. Simon, the resident evil nutcase, inhabiting a monstrous, powerful robot. His brain resides in a bubble on top, much like a cherry on a hot fudge Sunday. (Yes, I am still on my eating binge) It is a tremendous fight because you not only have to kill this huge semi-person, but there are a bunch of mutant guards, flying drones etc. to deal with at the same time. I had played the darn level about thirty times and decided to check out someone else's battle. So I went to You-Tube and typed in, Dr. Simon Exoskelet...
5 comments
Read more