Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/163731
28 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2013 THIS WEEK FILM ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ROBOCOP ★ ★ ★ ★ T-1000 ★ ★ ★ JOHNNY FIVE ★ ★ C-3PO ★ TWIKI IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 One Direction: This Is Us (3D) (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Planes (U) 10:00, 12:10, 14:20, 16:30, 18:40, 20:50 Monsters University (U) 16:10, 18:30, 20:50 Smurfs 2 (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 The Lone Ranger (12A) 10:35, 14:30, 18:00, 21:00 After Earth (12) 10:00, 12:10, 14:20, 16:30, 18:40, 20:50 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Elysium (15) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:10, 23:30 The Conjuring (15) 14:15, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:30 Red 2 (12A) 14:05, 16:30, 18:50, 21:15, 23:45 Grown Ups 2 (12A) 14:25, 16:30, 18:40, 21:15, 23:30 The Lone Ranger (12A) 14:30, 17:50, 20:50, 23:45 Smurfs 2 (3D) (U) 14:00, 18:45, 23:25 Smurfs 2 (U) 16:20, 21:05 This Is The End (16) 14:05, 16:25, 18:40, 20:55, 23:15 Monsters University (U) 14:05, 16:20, 18:40, 20:55, 23:15 The Wolverine (12A) 14:10, 18:15, 20:50, 23:25 Planes (3D) (U) 14:15, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45, 22:45 The Heat (15) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 World War Z (12) 14:00, 16:15, 18:35, 21:05, 23:25 Despicable Me 2 (U) 14:20, 16:25, 18:35, 20:45, 23:00 Arbitrage (15) 14:10, 16:20, 18:30, 21:00, 23:15 One Direction: This Is Us (3D) (U) 14:15, 16:25, 18:40, 21:00, 23:20 Now You See Me (12A) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:10, 23:35 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 The Wolverine (3D) (12A) 10:40, 13:30, 16:05, 18:40, 21:15 Smurfs (3D) (U) 10:35, 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45 Now You See Me (12A) 10:25, 13:45, 16:10, 18:35, 21:00 One Direction: This Is Us (3D) (U) 11:00, 13:35, 15:40, 18:05, 20:45 Planes (U) 10:25, 13:40, 15:50, 18:00, 20:50 Grown Ups 2 (12A) 10:45, 13:30, 16:00, 18:15, 20:40 The Lone Ranger (12A) 10:30, 13:35, 18:00, 21:00 Slumdog Mecha-hero THE use of science fiction as a means of social commentary is probably older than the genre itself, and while all popular culture arguably holds a mirror to the society producing it (even if said mirror is, more often than not, of the funhouse variety), the genre is certainly ideal for the pointing out of relevant issues. And what social ill is more relevant in these post-Occupy-movement days than the massive divide between rich and poor? The 1927 Fritz Lang masterpiece Metropolis cemented the image of the moneyed minority living high above the hoi polloi, and Elysium pushes the concept to a logical conclusion: in the year 2157 the wealthy inhabit the titular Elysium, a massive donutshaped space station (technically a '"Stanford Torus", fact fans) where they enjoy a futuristic luxury lifestyle complete with robot butlers and quasi-magical cure-all machines. The rest of the population is stuck in the far more massive slums of planet Earth, where life is brutish and robots are more likely to hand out beatings than trays of vodka shooters. Enter our hero of sorts, Max (Matt Damon). Once a car thief, Max now works through his parole at a Los Angeles robot factory and tries to keep his nose clean. One spectacularly awful day has him receiving a lethal dose of radiation – the health and safety of the unwashed masses is of little to no concern for the skybound ruling classes after all – and forced to take one last criminal job. If he lets himself get kitted with a robotic exoskeleton and manages to steal valuable data from an Elysium native (the rich come kitted with handy, brain-storage By Marco Attard drives, Johnny Mnemonic-style), Max gets a free trip to the Torus and its aforementioned cure-all machines, courtesy hacker-crime boss-human trafficker Spider (Wagner Moura). Simple, right? Too bad the noggin of his mark, corporate stooge John Carlyle (William Fitchtner), happens to carry information very, very sensitive to hard-nosed Elysium Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster), prompting her to summon Kruger (Sharlto Copley), a mercenary with an attitude as monstrous as his nigh-on unintelligible South African accent... In other words this is a film by Neill Blomkamp, director of aliens-as-immigrants allegory District 9. Similarities with Blomkamp's earlier work go beyond mere genre and social awareness. Elysium shares handheld, ciné vérité cinematography and a fascination with the mechanical. The futuristic world on display is gloriously realised, with utterly convincing robots and spacecraft (courtesy of legendary concept artist Syd Mead) contrasting with both the mega-slums of future LA and the pristine interiors of Elysium itself. Not to mention Matt Damon himself is turned into hardware, having to spend most of the film clad in what looks like a gigantic, long-legged metal insect. However while the visuals (and the technology behind them) convince, the same cannot be said about the human performances. Matt Damon fails to hold interest as a regular Joe turned mechanically enhanced hero, and a supposed romance with childhood spark Frey (Alice Braga) is wholly devoid of chemistry. Meanwhile the antagonists are little more than grotesque caricatures. If Jodie Foster's Delacourt got to chew any more scenery, one would see bite marks all over her beautifully designed HQ, while Carlyle joins the likes of Flintheart Glomgold (Scrooge McDuck's antagonist, for those unfamiliar with Duck Tales) among history's most despicable business tycoons. In fact, the only actor appearing to be enjoying himself is frequent Blomkamp collaborator Sharlto Copley, who clearly has a ball playing Kruger as a cartoonish, katana-wielding figure, a malevolent cyborg more belonging to the Metal Gear Solid videogames. In fact, the character of Kruger highlights another of Elysium's glaring flaws: a complete mismatch of theme and tone. The themes might be worthy (inequality exists, as do slums the size of cities), and the presentation of both rich and poor future M (15) E LY S IU ★ ★ ★ Blade Runners: Mech – sorry, MATT – Damon faces off with a cyborg Sharlto Copley in the slums beneath the titular Elysium societies might be dripping with 'realism', but the film itself is, ultimately, a big, dumb cartoon. Mind, there's nothing wrong with cartoons – this reviewer had a jolly good time with Pacific Rim, and that's as gigantic as cartoons can get – but Elysium feels like a step backwards from the promise of smart(er) modern science fiction borne in the likes of District 9. The unsubtle social themes are soon dropped in favour of action set pieces, all of which are shot and edited in the frankly unexceptional manner of modern action cinema. Blomkamp does not exactly offend with how he shoots action (it mainly consists of rapid intercutting between various close-ups of participants, in-between the occasional burst of slow motion), but it also tends to be devoid of tension, and thus excitement. And if the commentary is not too stimulating and the action fails to excite, one is reduced to playing that most tedious of time killers, spot the movie reference, something Elysium is chock-full of. Elysium, together with Oblivion and After Earth, marks 2013 as the year of the so-so genre flick with a 'message'. Yes, the themes might be relevant, and the visuals no less than stunning, but unlike the melding of man and machine seen in protagonist 'Mech' Damon the combination creating the final cinematographic product fails to properly mesh. Something of a shame, that. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt