Nothing like a bit of segregation......

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2014)

Greetings all, Let me start by stating that which is most obvious. Yes we all know that nothing of Blomkamp's will ever stand up to his masterpiece that is District 9, but never fear, as this does a reasonably good job! I am always one for visuals and here we have another treat, with cgi performed by the same team from D9 this is stunning once again, while still able to capture the grit and feel of world in poverty and the polar opposite, being the Stanford torus design of Elysium. My first major gripe is that the space habitat does not feature nearly as much as I had hoped.
All political sub-plots and messages aside, I found myself often not buying the juxtaposition of both worlds, most importantly the impoverished population just did not seem to gel for me. And with so little showing of the Elysium inhabitants it was difficult to draw any real comparison. For that reason alone I found this film lacking in such respects.
In which case I would relish the opportunity of more hyper-violence and action as substitute for the lacking of a real-world feel, but unfortunately the action is few and far between. And when we do get glimpses they are as astonishing as ever, which leaves us only wanting more.
I may sound overly critical here but to me all this was mere foibles, and nothing that could tarnish what I already had thoroughly enjoyed. Damon fits the lead as good as he ever has before, he brings an inner strength and silent resolve that this character sorely needed. With a decent supporting cast, especially from a certain recurring actor in Sharlto Copley. And not, in some cases, such as the out of place Jodie Foster or the difficult to understand Spyder character.
Overall I found this a highly entertaining movie, this time (when referring to D9) with less to think about and more to watch, with some very, very nice set pieces to dwell on. Should you long to feel more dystopian future-ness, then by all means go into this with having slightly lowered the bar from the echelon of District 9 and you will be pleasantly surprised!