Elysium Review [Film]

Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) delivers his science-fiction film, "Elysium". The film portrays Earth as a dirty, poverty-dominated land with citizens scrambling for food, water and shelter. Meanwhile, citizens with wealth have migrated to a massive space station, called Elysium, where there is no poverty, no war and no sickness. Max, played by Matt Damon (The Departed, The Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum), suffers an incident which renders him terminal. This creates his drive to go to Elysium to heal himself.

The concept is very interesting, however, it is not original as seen in last years "Total Recall". Unlike the Colin Farrell actioneer, Elysium is a film that is extremely well directed, well scored, well shot, well written and well acted. It is cl

ear that Blomkamp is not a "one hit wonder" after the excellent District 9. 

As a large budget science-fiction film, it is expected that a large quantity of CGI will be used. Unlike other films of the genre, such as Transformers or the Star Wars prequels, the CGI of Elysium is used to advance the story, which is refreshing considering the huge amount of CGI-driven films these days. Furthermore, the CGI is excellent. Many scenes looked practical (such as the robots/droids of the film who act as police officers) and the CGI looked extremely organic. It should also be noted that, although Neill Blomkamp and Peter Jackson have publicly stated that District 9 rose out of the ashes of the failed Halo production, Elysium seems more "Halo-ey" with the actual space station being a literal Halo crawling with habitat and inhabitants.

First-time composer, Ryan Amon delivers an excellent score (which also sounds Hans Zimmer-esque) which makes the heart beat rapidly during intense action sequences whilst also slowing down the tone during heart-breaking sequences. 

The performances of Elysium are all excellent, with Matt Damon spearheading the superb cast which also consists of Jodie Foster (Panic Room, Inside Man), Sharlto Copley (District 9, The A-Team) and William Fichtner (The Dark Knight, Black Hawk Down). Matt Damon is excellent as the motivated Max, while Jodie Foster is equally brilliant as the evil political secretary of Elysium's defences. However, the standout of the film is Sharlto Copley, who delivers an astoundingly brilliant, edgy, hilariously-morbid and downright scary portrayal of Elysium sleeper agent, Kruger. 

Much has been said about the premise of the film, the poverty-laden wasteland that has become Earth. However, the film is simply using this as a backdrop to place the story of Max and his struggle and not as social commentary. Although, it is evident that Blomkamp likes to deal with potential social issues such as racism and apartheid (as seen in District 9).

Elysium does have a couple of flaws, however. One of these is predictability. We know that eventually people will rise up and take control of Elysium, we know that the bad people will get what is coming to them. In an intelligent science fiction film, full of excellent aspects, this is one of the only issues which stands out. The other flaw is the shaky-cam during fight scenes. 

Elysium is an excellent science-fiction film from director Neill Blomkamp, which delivers excellent action set-pieces, heart and drama. Neill Blomkamp, after delivering two excellent science fiction films, has now solidified himself as a director to watch out for.

What are your thoughts on Neill Blomkamp's Elysium? Leave some feedback and comments below!

Elysium: 9/10

The Good:
- Damon, Foster and Copley deliver excellent performances
- Organic CGI
- Excellent practical effects
- Excellent setting
- Interesting concept
- Excellent score
- Excellent cinematography
- We're a little closer to a live-action Halo film

The Bad:
- Predictability
- Shaky-cam

Pain + Gain Review [Film]

Director Michael Bay's (Transformers, The Island, Pearl Harbour, Bad Boys) latest theatrical effort, "Pain and Gain, details the struggle of Daniel Lugo, played by Academy Award Nominee Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg (Contraband, The Departed), a gym junkie who wants to live the "American Dream". So, what is the American Dream? According to Michael Bay, the American Dream is money, beautiful women, sweaty biceps and money. After attending a seminar held by Johnny Wu, played by Ken Jeong (The Hangover Trilogy, Role Models), Lugo gains enough confidence to go out and rob one of his clients Victor Kershaw, played by Tony Shalhoub (Monk, 1408), depriving him of his money and his possessions. In order to do this, Lugo recruits fellow bodybuilders, Anthony Mackie's (Gangster Squad, Real Steel) Adrian Doorbal and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's (The Rundown, G.I. Joe Retaliation) Paul Doyle. Other cast members include the beautiful Bar Paly, Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine, Warm Bodies), Ed Harris (The Rock, Gone Baby Gone) and Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids).

Despite the film's dark and brutal subject matter, which consists of torture, murder, kidnapping and extortion, Michael Bay paints his film with a comedic sheen. Personally, it felt unsettling laughing at the antics of the bumbling trio. Although the film is well acted (a very convincing Mark Wahlberg steals the show as a ruthless individual who would stop at nothing to get what he wants, see the scene where they attempt to kill Kershaw), the humour in the film felt off and not in line with the dark and bleak story. As with any other Michael Bay film, the cinematography (Ben Seresin) is excellent and does an excellent job of making a (for Michael Bay) low-budget film look much bigger. Furthermore, Steve Jablonsky does a great job with the score of the film, adding a tense atmosphere when needed.

Onto Michael Bay himself. This is one of Bay's best productions to date. Whilst he has told a "true" story before (Pearl Harbour), it was obvious that at least 70% of the film was fiction, however, much of Pain + Gain was indeed true, as seen in the Miami New Times articles by Pete Collins. While Michael Bay is certainly not one of the most highly regarded directors in the industry, he is arguably one of the best when it comes to the direction of action sequences, and to no surprise, Bay brings his excellent direction of action scenes into Pain and Gain's few action moments. Whether it is Dwayne Johnson on the run from the police or Mark Wahlberg attempting to flee custody, Bay's style is certainly a highlight.
People familiar with Bay's other works may notice his crass and often dry humour. This is most certainly evident in Pain and Gain, where the humour is more a miss than a hit.

That said, the final minutes of Pain and Gain are excellent. Seeing the criminals get their just desserts whilst listening to Ed Harris' narration is both gratifying and was worth the wait. This is a story about criminals, and the moral of the story is that crime certain does not pay (however, in the case of Lugo, it pays only for a moment).

What are your thoughts on Michael Bay's Pain and Gain? Leave some feedback and comments below!

Pain + Gain: 7/10

The Good:
- Acting
- Michael Bay's style
- The "true story" aspect
- Strong cast
- Excellent performance by Mark Wahlberg
- Bar Paly

The Bad:
- Jokes rarely land
- Tonal issues