Elysium: PanzerKut (by PanzerKut)
9/10
Being a huge fan of Blompkamp’s District 9 (and his general aesthetics) I saw Elysium opening night in an otherwise empty theater. The film deservedly received middling reviews, but mainly imo for generic scenes that felt forced into what I otherwise appreciated as a fun and hyperviolent live action version of cyberpunk/dystopian anime from the 80s/90s (think Black Magic M-66, Battle Angel Alita, Cyber City Oedo 808, etc). While I walked out of that theater knowing I’d gladly watch the theatrical cut of Elysium again (mainly because of the cool factor), I couldn’t shake off the feeling that most of it’s dragging flaws were things that could’ve been easily fixed with a leaner re-edit. Elysium: Panzerkut to the rescue. What Panzerkut does is cuts off the exposition, the weak but heavy handed political allegorical references (you can now make those connections yourself), the pale political intrigue, the boring childhood flashbacks, and the more obvious allusions to a possible romance. Also gone are the cringey “heroic savior” aspects of the lead character Max and most of the terribly performed scenes by the miscast Jody Foster.
What we are left with is 80 min. of awesomely gory dystopian muscle meat that allows for a complete and extremely satisfying sci-fi/action story to unfold about a man approaching death’s door whose only option to survive is to become a tool for the gain of all have-nots and the barbaric scene-chewing mercenaries hired to stop him.
Panzerkut will be my go-to for subsequent (and guaranteed) rewatches