Rating of
3/4
"Elysium" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/02/15
After the exploitation and pollution of the twentieth and twenty first centuries have reduced Earth to a ruined global ghetto, the rich and powerful abandon the planet and live in opulent splendour aboard a purpose built space station, leaving the majority of the population languishing in squalor below. Neill Blomkamp's follow up to his excellent debut District 9 is a similar blend of sci-fi action and social commentary, once again highlighting the the contrast in the lives between the haves and have nots. This time the reluctant anti-hero is played by Matt Damon whose ordinary working Joe receives a lethal dose of radiation during an industrial accident caused by an arms manufacturer with scant regard for its employee's safety. The world Blomkamp has created is a believable, and looking at the state of the world today, almost inevitable one. The pseudo-documentary format of District 9 is abandoned for a more stylised and generic action movie look and the plot unfortunately does get a little too carried away with its multiplex pleasing aspect leaving the moral message somewhat forgotten for the climax of the film, and because of this it does lack the power and punch of his previous feature. But the issues of self serving, elitist attitudes to immigration and universal healthcare are raised with intelligence and wit which makes Elysium a cut above the average mainstream sci-fi blockbuster.
