Sci-Fi aficionados are sure to love Elysium, but if you aren’t a fan of Sci-Fi movies, take a chance on this one. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, the action takes place 141 years in the future. The world is a very different place: the middle class is gone and all that remains are the very poor and the very wealthy. The poor have to live on a very damaged and polluted Earth, scrounge for food and jobs and endure humiliating, rough treatment by the police—who are all robots.
The very rich literally live in another world: on a man-made satellite called Elysium (according to Webster’s Dictionary, “a place of perfect happiness for certain people.”), where there is no disease or anything else that would disturb their Utopia. Some critics are speculating that apart from the fantasy and spectacular special effects, the movie’s premise makes a political statement; a forewarning of the dire consequences if this becomes a world of haves and have nots.
Matt Damon gives a stellar performance as Max, a reformed thief who labors away in a factory making the police robots that harass him daily. After being exposed to a lethal dose of radiation, Max journeys illegally to Elysium in search of a cure and the secret to life-long health. The good people of Elysium, you see, never get sick because every disease is instantly cured with their private medical machines.
Max embarks on a quest to save himself and to help the people on Earth. His mission includes trying to deceive Elysium’s evil Secretary of Defense, played to perfection by Jodie Foster. Ms. Foster is almost unrecognizable as the villain you love to hate. Max’s romantic interest is played by Alice Braga, who along with Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, William Fichtner, Carly Pope, and Faran Tahir, turn in strong supporting performances.
Elysium is proof positive that there are far scarier things than Zombies, monsters, and doomsday scenarios. The movie works because even as a fantasy, people can relate to both the characters and the possibilities of such a bleak future.