Elysium: Matt Damon Wakes Up With Metal Bolted To His Bones And Jodie Foster Used To Be A Man
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Don’t you hate it when you wake up with a clunky metal exoskeleton bolted into you bones? Sure, you’ve been turned into a part man, part machine, ass kicking device, but goddamn, the headaches, am I right? That’s the basic situation that Max De Costa (Matt Damon) discovers when he wakes up in this new clip from Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming sci-fi actioner Elysium. As we approach the August release date, we’re seeing more clips like this, as well as learning more about the plot and players, like Jodie Foster’s Secretary Delacourt.
Blomkamp’s follow up to District 9 is set is a similarly screwed up world. The surface of Earth has been scorched and abused to such a point that no one wants to live there, and those who can afford it, flee like white folks from the inner cities in the 1970s. This elite class take up residence on an orbiting space station called Elysium, where there is no crime, enough food, primo medical care, and nothing bad ever happens. That’s what they pay for, and that’s the exact opposite of what the people left on the terrestrial world endure. While Elysium has everything, they have nothing. People live in filth, deal with crime-infested streets, and have absolutely no future. When a work accident leaves Max with only days to live, he must find a way into Elysium, where they have medical technology that could save his life. In his quest, he becomes a beacon of sorts, a last hope for all of humanity.
This is where the metal britches come in. In order to give himself a fighting chance, he needs the strength and durability that this mechanical outerwear gives him. As you can tell from the reaction of his surgeons in this short clip, this is not an easy process, and they didn’t really expect him to wake up. Remind me not to sign up for the DIY cybornetic enhancements. It sounds cool now, but just wait and see what happens. Now, at the very least, Max has a fighting chance to make it to Elysium and back.
But that’s easier said than done, as he’ll face high-tech security forces, and Delacourt’s stern determination at every turn. Power-mad, anti-immigration, and willing to do whatever it takes to defend Elysium, Delacourt was a part originally written for someone else, specifically someone with a wang. Talking to EW, Blomkamp says that even though Foster was super gung ho to be in his film, he wasn’t sure there was a part for her. Fortunately for everyone involved, he woke up one morning with the realization that a badass actor is a badass actor, and that Delacourt could be just as powerful and intimidating with two X chromosomes as with an X and Y combo. The next issue was that he didn’t know if the Academy Award-winner would go for it, but she jumped right on board, and the rest is history, or at least will be once Elysium opens. From what we’ve seen thus far, Foster nails Delacourt’s no nonsense, no mercy approach. She’s gold, decisive, brutal, and, frankly, chilling.
