Neil Blomkamp returns with another dystopian tale about the near future. There isn’t a strong social message like District 9; it’s there but the action-flick/intrigue angles drown out any possibility of this being a strong, anti-One Percent tale. Elysium not being liked as much as 9 could be blamed on Blomkamp trying to make a more appealing blockbuster for international audiences. Despite the rather predictable plot, I felt the story was well executed. My only serious complaints, not enough robots and a happy ending.
The plot entailing why Matt Damon’s character wants to get into the space station is more complicated than the trailers showed. There’s much more to Jodie Foster’s role too, it’s just two-dimensional; Jodie = Ronnie Cox in drag!
What sold this were the details, namely the space station. If you’ve read Ringworld, you’ll see that Elysium has high side walls to keep the atmosphere in. So shuttles can land on the living surface, not just the space dock. Back on Earth, namely Los Angeles, everybody else resides in a more realistic version of Idiocracy (based upon the pollution).
Alamo Extras: Blomkamp’s earlier works, namely District 9 betas; clips of the Three Stooges trying to fit into high society.