Set in the year 2154, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
More impressive than exceptional, Elysium doesn’t quite reach the same satisfying heights as District 9, even if it is largely more of the same. That said, there’s still loads to like, as it’s another interesting, mostly original fusion of muscular action, R-rated body horror and intelligent, relevant satire.
Not perfect, but a much more satisfying Earth-in-ruins film than Oblivion or After Earth. It is a little more conventional than District 9 (what isn’t?), but confirms Blomkamp as one of the potential science-fiction greats of this decade.
Elysium is not a bad movie, but it doesn’t seem to sense when we’ve had enough.
The spectacle ends up suffering – another problem for a film that, free of exploring its concepts with any depth, is ultimately little more than great production design for a world undefined.
For the most part, Elysium is a thrilling blockbuster that marries intelligence with spectacle to striking effect and confirms Blomkamp as the new king of the genre in the process.
Not quite the best of both worlds.
A clever sci-fi satire on LA's servant class sadly loses its distinctive quality once the guns start blazing.
It’s good that Blomkamp hasn’t entirely lost touch with his roots, but in his efforts to make a summer movie with a social conscience, he’s ended up making the blockbuster equivalent of bland, tasteful awards bait.
It's impressively designed by Philip Ivey, who worked on both District 9 and The Lord of the Rings, but depressingly predictable in its ideas and tedious in its boneheaded brutality.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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