Rating of
3/4
'Mainstream' Followup to District 9
Unknown - wrote on 08/10/13
'Elysium' is about as straight-forward of a sci-fi/action flick as you could get. That's both the biggest positive and negative I have with the film. On the one hand, we are given terrific world building, design, special effects, and action. On the other, there's a telegraphed plot and characters, and a supremely obvious allegory for healthcare/social status. I felt little to no investment in the proceedings. However, I did enjoy the action. Director Blomkamp continues with a similar style that we saw in 'District 9', but he adds even more visual flair this time, including a couple of camera movements/effects combinations that I have never seen before. He also pulls back on the 'shaky cam' a tiny bit. 'Elysium' is much more 'mainstream' and less thoughtful than I was hoping for, but in that sense it does deliver good escapism.
