Socialist allegory with a thin veil of Sci-fi...

Rating: Null/10 (24 August 2014)

'Elysium' is a socialist allegory with a thin cover of sci-fi/action. Neil Blomkamp has created his own version of another left-wing sci-fi movie, namely James Cameron's'Avatar. I mention Cameron specifically because its clear that Mr. Blomkamp could learn a great deal about the creation and unfolding of action sequences and character development from the older sci-fi master. Matt Damon does a great job as the Christ-like Max; a former felon who lives in the Los Angeles of 2154. In this dystopic future, earth is overcrowded and polluted to the extreme and all of the wealthy folks have created a paradise on the titular space station. Jodie Foster's character runs Elysium with an iron fist and routinely has poor people blown up attempting to fly there and gain access to Elysium's life-saving medical technology. That's right: Universal health care is the biggest plot device in this film. There's an undeniable link to the recent uproar over the 1% and economic inequality in general, but Mr. Blomkamp ends up telling a cartoonish, one- sided story. This simplistic tale of greed and privilege ends up suffocating the development of all characters with the exception of Damon's. Mr. Blomkamp does create some good momentum as the action heats up but the fight sequences suffer from poor choreography and a flurry of bad camera work. The film does deliver on an emotional level at the end but we are left with a peculiar feeling that it could have been much better. Having said that, Neil Blomkamp showed enormous promise with 'District 9' and has a bright future ahead of him so long as he takes tips from his contemporaries and continues to grow as a film maker.