Neill Blomkamp writes & directs his 2nd big motion picture; he uses the sci-fi genre as a gateway for his tale of rich vs. poor, health care & immigration. After all it isnt rocket science by any means that we live in a culture where we are more interested in care taking the rich & powerful, instead of helping everyone in todays world, the ending to this movie reflects that, because this is a very simply movie, done as an action flick.
The year is 2154, our planet suffers from pollution & overpopulation & the rich have secured their own way of living by creating the space station Elysium, the medical technology has become so powerful that any sickness can be cured, bodies can be reconstructed as long as the brain is active & eternal youth has been gained, it is a man-made Olympus.
Major criticism on how the close ranged combat is viewed, its swift shaky cam while visceral combat should be viewed in wide and plain sight, but the camera keeps shaking so there is no real enjoyment from seeing the hero Max (Matt Damon) fights off the villains, which hinders the viewing experience.
What Blompamp excels at is the visual beauty of this world. Elysium is so sleek & clean, the robots are mobile & sleek & the office buildings are decorated by vines & flowers. While on earth the tattoo culture, environments & people are showing a ghetto atmosphere. The Spider (Wagner Moura) & his crime organization had an interesting visual outlook.
William Fichtner acts John Carlyle, his robotic auto-tune voice perfectly fits with Elysiums rich elite with such comedic value, but the actor who steals the show is none other than Sharlto Copley as Kruger. Sadistic & vile, just a plain over the top assassin villain that the government uses against the poor to keep them in their place, he will be the most memorable thing out of this movie, even though the message should be the one.
