Here is the first look at the trailer for Neil Blomkamp’s new movie Elysium from the Io9 website. Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley, we see the Earth of 2159 where the rich live in luxury on a man-made station above the planet. The residents of a ruined Earth below struggle to survive and it is one of these residents that takes on a mission that could change the balance of both of these groups and bring equality to the polarized worlds. Below is the brand new trailer.

The first thing that catches your eye is the incredible realism of this future Earth. In all of Blomkamp’s work he has always had a talent of making the science fiction elements of the story blend into the real world we live in today. The Earth of the future looks very much like an exaggerated version of parts of our world. The huge ultra modern buildings and technology of the elite class mixed with masses of floral surroundings makes the harsh, war like life the people living on Earth have to suffer seem that much more tragic. The rich here have a flair for decadence that makes their world seem breath-taking and the poor people on Earths struggles seem a little too much like life on our planet right now. The trailer clearly defines these class struggles and felt a lot like the alien residents plight in District 9.

Certain parts of the trailer felt like the scenes following the human survivors from the Matrix movies, the bald head, modern and very rough looking technology, dirty clothing and wrecked housing probably helps to enforce that look. Matt Damon looks great sporting the above look and the insertion of his robotic Exo- Skeleton into his flesh was an incredible moment, as were the scenes where Matt Damon is smashing and blowing up his robotic foes. Sharlto Copley looks great in the same suit and has some great scenes where he to gets to blow stuff up. The mix of action and class struggle is handled fantastically and adds an exciting story to the trailer. The robots also look great. Neil has always had a soft spot for technology in his work, especially robotics and this film seems to be no different. The fact that he handles this interaction between CGI and live action so well is cause for celebration and certainly blew me away when I was watching this trailer.

This trailer has everything a fan of science fiction could hope for. The only downside is the lack of Jodie Foster, who only pops up in a few scenes and gets very little trailer time. But this is a very slight fault. Futuristic class struggles like Elysium shows have been around since films like Logan Run brought them to the cinematic masses in the 70’s and Neil is continuing that tradition with his own unique brand of science fiction action. The film is released on August 9^th of this year and that time seems to far away for this reviewer. Keep checking Grizzly Bomb for regular updates on this superb looking movie.