'Elysium' Redresses Current Social Issues as Provoking Futuristic Action Drama

Max (Matt Damon) takes a stand against the socially divided system of the near-future. 

With only two feature films under his belt, what exactly should you expect from a Neill Blomkamp movie? First of all, there's always the dystopian element, leaving Earth or at least part of it in unlivable shambles. Add to that some sort of heavy-hitting message crammed in that affects contemporary society. District 9 was disguised as an alien flick full of immigration and overpopulation issues.

Blomkamp's latest sci-fi film, Elysium, does the same tackling both health care and social segregation. Little over a hundred years in the future, the entire population is divided by social class. The wealthy continue to live a life of luxury on the sole artificial space habitat orbiting the planet and all their health issues are taken care of after a few minutes in a restoration pod. Those not so lucky still live in the ruins of Earth, struggling day to day to survive.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Futuristic Commentary 'Elysium' Leads Overcrowded Weekend, Falls Short of 'District 9' Debut

Four new releases debuted in a heavily crowded frame this past weekend, but it was Neill Blomkamp's futuristic social commentary Elysium that emerged victorious with its $30 million opening. 

Elysium stars Matt Damon as a dying factory worker in the year 2154, who's only chance of survival is to find a way aboard a luxurious space colony where the wealthy are provided with the finest health care of the future. Elysium is supplied with a more prominent cast and larger budget than Blomkamp's 2009 directorial debut, District 9, but while Elysium secured the top spot at the box office this past weekend, it failed to match the director's previous opening.

The other three new releases, We're the Millers, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and Planes fought over the remaining spots in the Top 5, leaving last week's #1, 2 Guns barely hanging on to the final spot at the box office.

'Zoo' Partially Embraces a Heartfelt Wild Side

Some people say they live in a zoo, but very few can literally back that claim up.

Buying any piece of real estate typically wears a person down for quite some time, dealing with the endless red tape and practically selling your name and your life away in order to committing to stay there for however many years down the line. Normally, it isn’t something that done on a whim, especially when it’s for something more than you bargained for. That is, unless you’re a single father of two who decides to start anew and buy a zoo in the country. Matt Damon happens to be that single father of two in We Bought a Zoo. 

We Bought a Zoo is based on a true story, helmed by acclaimed director Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous), of a family from England, who bought a dilapidated zoo and subsequently reopened the facility to the public. Crowe’s adaptation Americanizes the story, transplanting the narrative across the ocean to the bright California countryside.