Arguably the best film of 2013

Rating: 10/10 (16 August 2013)

This is one of those films that I probably don't need to actually introduce anybody to what it is about because the adds have been filling the cinemas, buses, and bus shelters for the last two months. I also do not need to mention that it is a really good movie because I can see that opinion is actually quite divided, both with regards to the script, the plot, and the ideas behind it. In fact I have noticed that the idea behind the movie has actually raised some hackles, at least on the IMDb boards where people are somewhat offended at the liberal nature of this movie.
Now, there is a suggestion that Blomkamp is giving us an idea of the differences between the United States and the rest of the world, however I do not think that this is the case. In relation to the question of countries I believe that Australia is more like Elysium than the United States, not just because we are a wealthy nation, and not just because we are surrounded by a moat that is incredibly difficult to cross, but also because we have a universal health care system than is the envy of much of the world (though there are countries with much better health care than ours). However, I suspect that the divide between the over crowded Earth and the paradisaical Elysium is much more metaphorical in that it clearly contrasts the differences between the rich and the poor.
The whole point of the movie seems to deal with access to medical care. It is not so much that the wealthy live in Elysium and that the poor live in hell, but rather the question of basic rights, such a medical care, that is denied to people who don't have movie and is a given to those who do. While in Australia, medical care is guaranteed for life threatening conditions, there is still the question of money when it comes to non-urgent matters. For instance, people which require elective surgery (such as knee surgery) can be waiting for years, in pain, before they are able to get access to the care that they need, while those with Health Insurance (available, though still somewhat pricey, I pay around $1200 a year before government rebates) get bumped to the top of the list. It is not so much a question of whether the surgery required is life or death, but rather whether somebody is living in pain while waiting for surgery.
It is interesting though how Blomkamp portrays this society because, at the beginning of the movie, we have three ships making a run for Elysium and the director of security orders a sleeper agent to shoot them down. The ruling council rebukes her for the use of such tactics due to questions relating to human rights, however we see that as soon as they arrive they are arrested and shipped back to Earth (and the only reason one is making the run for Elysium is to get access to medical treatment). In a way it is similar here in Australia because the only reason our navy is not blasting refugee ships out of the water as they make the run for Australia is because we will be condemned for such barbaric behaviour. However, while we may not be systematically killing them, we are still locking them up in detention facilities in inhumane conditions with no hope of release.
There are other factors (not political) that I should mention as well. Okay, Kruger is just one of the nastiest bad guys I have ever seen, but it seems like many have commented on that as well. What impresses me about Blomkamp's two films is the way he creates science-fiction weapons. In District 9 I simply loved the suit which uses a magnetic field to collect a bunch of bullets, as well as the way Blomkamp makes his bodies explode. Expect the same in this film. Kruger has this simply awesome shield that he uses to protect himself, while Max has this gun with an awesome bullet that simply blows away one of the robot police officers. As a final word though, personally, I think Copley simply stole the show, relegating Damon (who is a pretty good actor anyway) to that of a supporting role.