The strengths exhibited by writer-director Neill Blomkamp's 2009 feature debut, District 9, are mostly replicated in his sophomore film, the science-fiction action-thriller Elysium. This is welcome news for sci-fi aficionados who prefer their futurist cinematic fables to be violent, straightforward, and topped with easy-to-digest social commentary. Although somewhat critically overrated—surreally, the film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar—District 9 is a solid bit of dystopian storytelling, memorable mainly for its comedy-horror shadings and distinctive visual flourishes. Elysium is cut from the same battered sheet metal as its predecessor, although fashioned into a more classic, sci-fi action package.
In the vast, toxic slums of 22nd-century Los Angeles, ex-car thief Max DeCosta (Matt Damon) suffers an industrial accident that will slowly kill him in five days. DeCosta is accordingly resolved to reach Elysium, an orbiting enclave where ultra-wealthy citizens have access to miraculous health care. To that end, the dying man strikes a deal with a human smuggler (Wagner Moura) who fits him with a cybernetic exoskeleton and involves him in a kidnapping scheme. Things get complicated as DeCosta's trajectory intersects with his old flame (Alice Braga), not to mention with Elysium's ruthless Secretary of Defense (Jodie Foster) and her sociopathic attack dog (Sharlto Copley).
Although its screenplay is less prone to nonsensical turns than District 9's, Blomkamp's latest is still short on characterization, with a preference for paper-skinned archetypes over actual human beings. In 2013, however, there's something to be said for an uncluttered sci-fi film in which every character's motivation is clear and the running time clocks in at a trim 109 minutes. While it occasionally drifts into gory action-movie repetitiveness, Elysium fulfills the core requirements of the genre by showcasing wondrous and unsettling technology with a dose of grim topicality.
