Of course I had to see “Elysium” since it was being decried as socialist propaganda.
The word Elysium is derived from Greek Mythology of the afterlife. The gods created Elysium fields to separate themselves from Hades and undesirables. Admittance was exclusive to gods and heroes. This story is mirrored in the film where the rich and well to do on earth build a space station to separate themselves from earth which has become a polluted and overpopulated wasteland.
Directed by Neil Blomkamp, the cinematography and atmosphere are very similar to his minor hit “District 9”. Elysium could easily be the setting for Bioshock, Atlas Shrugged, Brave New World, etc. The idea is that the wealthy are just going to remove themselves from the “situation” on earth if they aren’t given holy authority over anything that might disturb their wealth and cause them to cut back on generously showering the less fortunate with jobs, food, and shelter at their convenience. “Elysium” is basically a slap in the face of Ayn Rand.
“Elysium” is violent, much more so than what has been industry standard within the past couple years, with a fair share of exploding corpses and flesh hacking. While some of the effects were neat, the bulk of the action was a little redundant or irrelevant. While some interesting visuals are presented for a vision of the future, you get the feeling that with such an interesting concept it could have delivered a little more.
The Sci-fi film “Looper” came to mind as a similar style of conclusion. While I wasn’t totally satisfied with the meat of the story, the characters, or the action sequences, the great redeeming factor of “Elysium” is the conclusion, which made the first hour worth while. But to be more than just good, “Elysium” needs a stronger body to hold up its grand point.
“Remember where you came from”
8.0/10
As AJ Thinks 