Well worth seeing.

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2013)

First things first: This is not the most intelligent Scifi movie some people were expecting it to be. Storytelling is not masterful here, many characters are just plot devices and shallow, there is little subtlety. It is very black and white and at times (you'll know when you see it) requires a little more suspension of disbelief than I originally thought.
That said, It's not a dumb movie at its core - it just keeps things simple. There is some obvious exposition, there is a message that's shoved in your face, and Elysium doesn't pretend to be anything else. Give it to me blunt anytime rather than Avatar-like pretentiousness. When you see it, expect a simple story with a simple message.
Some actors weren't doing their jobs as well as they could have, but Matt Damon surprised me. I'm not his biggest fan, but I've always liked him. He really surprised me. He carried this movie when it needed to be carried. The movie doesn't have time to develop his character to the fullest, but does it enough. Also, be prepared to watch your inner hipster cry, when child actor Emma Tremblay delivers a scene which you know is just cheap emotional manipulation, but she does it so well that you'll be moved nonetheless. I love when that happens.
The action is amazing. As we could tell from District 9, Blomkamp likes to make his action inventive. In Elysium, it's just that. Not only inventive but visually wonderful and often surprising too. Some people have said there's too much non-stop action. I failed to see that, I think there was just enough of it, and never non-stop. Elysium has also some very graphic violence which of course gets my thumbs up.
The music is playing with two simple emotions. Melancholy and Aggression. Sometimes the ambient-style howling might be too much, but still does its job.
What we have here is a simple story. Simple story, simple characters and simple emotions. Simple does not equal stupid or bad, just simple. People who are into hard SciFi will find plenty of things hard to swallow, and even though I'm not one, I had to suspend my disbelief a little too much at times. Anyway, effective story, very good performance from Damon, great-looking film with inventive action scenes. I'm glad I saw it. I was expecting a bad movie, but instead got a nice little effective film that has a heart.