A Disappointment

Rating: 5/10 (7 April 2014)

Elysium came highly recommended. However I found it disappointing.
It is set in the future, but mirrors earth today. The "Republicans" live in a gated community, but in orbit. The rest of the population live in squalor similar to a Brazilian favella. The goal of every person on earth is to live in this golden community.
The people who live there have no compassion whatsoever. They remotely run the corporations on earth that have no regard for safety or working conditions, like Nike in Thailand. They use robocop like droids to keep the earthlings in check and drones like Obama. They happily kill any potential trespassers.
The Republican have astounding advanced technology for healing, but they won't share it with the earthlings, for much the same reason blacks were spat on.
There is not much subtlety in the parallels.
Matt Damon is hideous. They shaved off his hair, covered him in tattoos, a Borg suit (presumably to give him strength) burns and scars. I did not like seeing his beauty defiled that way.
Jodie Foster plays the icy leader of the Republicans. She plays the part perfectly, projecting complete composure and elegance.
However, most of the movie is watching mindless CGI of hovering vehicles, droids and explosions. It just goes on and on and on. It is boring!
There does not seem to be any point to most of the violence. The combatants have no motive. They just like fighting.
There are some extremely phony dramatic tension moments that just don't make any sense at all. The people don't interact much. Not even the villains have much interaction with their victims. On the other hand, that is the point of the movie. These people have no compassion for anyone.