The most surprising thing about Elysium, given that it was written and directed by District 9's Neill Blomkamp, is how lazily thought out it all feels. The science-fiction aspects in Blomkamp's first movie, the wonderful District 9, though farfetched in places, felt carefully constructed and intricately-realised. Elysium, on the hand, which does for "We Are The 99 Percent" movement what District 9 did for South African apartheid, has none of the elegance of craft on display in that far better movie. Some visual splendor aside, this is science-fiction as its sloppiest. Set in the not too distant future on a devastated Earth, Matt Damon features as a factory worker who ends up getting radiation poisoning and is given a short time to live. His plan? Hitch a ride to Elysium, a floating space station where the rich live in relative bliss, and have access to machines which cure them of literally every disease known to man in a matter of seconds. The premise is intriguing, and Damon and Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley impress, but there are too many inconsistencies and plot holes to call this a success. What a shame, given the talent involved.
