'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.

Max (Matt Damon) is one of those not so lucky and after being exposed to radiation at his factory job, he's left with less than a week to live. His only option, to find a way up to the space habitat, Elysium. Max is your everyman, facing the challenges of poverty on a daily basis. Since he was a kid in the slums, his unreachable goal was always to reach Elysium. But when the risky opportunity strikes, it's as if his childish dreams were just a foreshadowing of his fate and purpose as a person.

Damon's comfortable with the lead role, carrying the drama of Elysium on his shoulders with plenty of ease. But he also is forced to step into the shoes of action man, duking it out with Sharlto Copley's standout menacing South African mercenary, Kruger and wired into a skeletal mech suit. The transition from struggling factory worker to fist-fighting action star isn't hard to believe, particularly as the script offers up a criminal back story for Max.

But Max is not only physically challenged by Kruger, but indirectly emotionally challenged by Jodi Foster too as ambitious politician determined to keep the two classes separate at any cost. The only issue here is Foster is undoubted the weakest link of Elysium, constricted by two-dimensional villainy and a bizarre futuristic French accent. Foster's a fine actress, but here the shortsightedness of offering up a legit political baddie brings the tension down a notch.

Elysium, however, is another visual treat from Neill Blomkamp following up District 9's practical canvas that still blends CGI, but isn't overblown with too many ridiculous moments. Granted, Blomkamp has a bigger budget and more prominent cast this time around, but the conflict between wealthy and impoverished is on such a narrow scale. It affect Max's character and a few others around him, but it's class warfare exploding at the seams. Thousands of elitists are just there and same goes for the poor.

When the actions of a few to give everyone an equal opportunity at survival leave the rest in the dark, the epic vibe of change that's supposed to be taking place is noticeably absent. Some viewers may argue that Blomkamp forces his contemporary agenda concerning health care and social divide upon audiences, but when it's all comes down to it, it's simply a functional backdrop to an entertaining end of summer thrill ride.

Going more of a mainstream route, Elysium loses a portion of the sci-fi magic that made Blomkamp's debut film, District 9 take audiences by surprise and stir up debates about the issues of today still glaring in the near future. The end result is another thought-provoking sci-fi film dressed up on a larger scale to visually ponder those important questions.

GRADE: A- (9/10)