Not Original but Worth Watching

Rating: 6/10 (13 March 2014)

Elysium: "any place or state of perfect happiness; paradise," as defined by Dictionary.com.
Based upon this definition, you can somewhat gather what the premise of the movie is. The year is 2154 and Earth is overpopulated, disease ridden and in disrepair. The world's wealthiest live in a fortified space station above earth called Elysium. There they enjoy every luxury including mechanisms that will cure them from almost, if not every, illness or injury. The people of Earth want to be there and the people of Elysium definitely do not want the Earth dwellers coming to their abode.
From the start of the movie I was thinking "Dredd" or even "In Time" with Justin Timberlake as the scenery and the plot reminded me of those two films. Initially, I was wondering where the conflict would come from and what it would be. I mean, even today the wealthy live in beautiful protected areas away from the general public and they typically don't want strangers invading their neighborhoods. Is that so wrong?
As the movie played out the conflict became clear. A movie needs one protagonist or more and one antagonist or more. It was clear who were supposed to be the protagonists and who were supposed to be the antagonists, but the writers and/or director had to really cement the fact that the protagonists were on Earth and the antagonists were on Elysium. So, in not so subtle fashion, they made the Elysium citizens depraved and nearly inhuman in their behavior and mannerisms. Essentially you were supposed to loathe Elysium and all it stood for. I think it was a little over the top and a bit unnecessary. Yes, wealthy people are going to make decisions and do things to protect their wealth, but that's not to say that they have no moral fiber whatsoever.
Putting that aspect of the movie aside, it did make for a riveting film after all. Eventually I was drawn into the saga and I was whole-heartedly pulling for the hero. There is a lot of symbolism and parallels in this movie to life as we know it now, some of them discrete and others are overtly obvious. The effects and graphics were a big plus. The robot police and guards were extremely human-like in their movements such that you would think they were people in robot costumes. And graphical representation of Earth and Elysium made the disparity between the two locations very pronounced. This movie, while not that original, is worth watching.