Elysium

Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, & Alice Braga

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

From the Writer/Director of District 9, comes Elysium, a futuristic tale that focuses on the inequality of wealth. Much like in his first film, Neill Blomkamp is examining a modern problem with a futuristic story, and once again, he isn't offering any solutions. As with District 9, Blomkamp is showing how an unsolved issue, left to it's own devices, will eventually cause chaos. In 2154, Earth is overpopulated and in ruins. The rich have built a utopian society on the largest space station ever conceived, and as you may have guessed, it's called Elysium. The story focuses on Max, an orphan and ex-con, who has always dreamed of living in paradise on Elysium. His plans to earn his way take a dramatic turn, when he is injured in an accident at work. Max knows he'll never survive on Earth and the only way to save his life is to get some of the advanced medical treatment available on Elysium. The two stories are very different, but the setting could have been exactly the same. The story itself was pretty good, there was a lot more action then in District 9, yet the similarities are unmistakable. Matt Damon stars and played the role he was asked to play. Max had a lot of potential to be an interesting character, perhaps one with an agenda, instead he was written as this dumb guy, who was anything but a savior to the people of Earth. Max was out to save himself and did what was necessary to survive, but he should have been more. The people all turned to Max to help solve a greater problem, but all he cared about was himself. Jodie Foster also stars, but has a surprisingly small role, that definitely did not fit her personality. Much like District 9 before it, the story of Elysium is used as a forum for the Writers agenda. The two stories are very different, but the technology, locations, and even several cast members are the same. The result is a slightly better movie than District 9, that will give you an eerie feeling of deja vu throughout.