Another Matt Damon Classic

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2015)

In the year 2159, the earth has become an overpopulated, polluted and disease ridden place. A new "habitat" called Elysium - a kind of space equivalent to an island paradise - has been created, but is a place where only the wealthy and rich are "allowed" to live. It's also a place that is run by people who will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws. After a serious accident at his place of work, Max (Damon) is desperate to get to Elysium any way he can, but to do this he has to retrieve critical information from the CEO of Amardyne - the company that created & built Elysium -, John Carlyle (Fichtner). If Max succeeds, he will not only help himself but also millions of people on Earth.
OK straight to the point here - Elysium is a fantastic action/sci-fi movie. The visual effects are stunning to say the least, and the acting is really top notch but in saying that with the likes of Foster, Damon and Copley it should be well acted. Foster brings a really good performance in playing Secretary Delacourt, a cold & heartless government official of Elysium; Copley is really impressive as Kruger, a ruthless Earth-based sleeper cell agent; and Damon once again brings it home as Max, an ex-con who works for Armadyne.
Elysium also has a very District 9 (which I also loved) feel to it, and I suppose the two movies really aren't too dissimilar to each other with two parties wanting to get to their own "paradise". The movie itself isn't a non-stop action roller coaster ride and actually pays attention to story as well which is good. Don't get me wrong...the action in Elysium when it happens is excellent but it's not self-reliant on ONLY action like some films.
Some people will do doubt find it slow or "boring" in-between the action scenes, but I didn't find this the case at all, and even in these "slower" moments the story still ticks along nicely and keeps your interest.
All in all, I thought Elysium was brilliant and I definitely recommend watching it.