Elysium Movie Review

Elysium is a truly classic science fiction movie in that it takes the biggest troubles of the time and uses a story about the future to talk about where those issues could lead.  The movie is sad and hits very close to home in our recent economic recovery.  The effects are very good and for the most part the science is even accurate.

The only problem I had with the movie is that I can't see how things would get as dystopian as they are presented in the movie.  First it presumes that somehow the inhabitants of the space station Elysium completely disenfranchise most of the world including the people of the united states, after fleeing it.  This seems a bit far-fetched considering that the major space powers would not allow the kind of technology that would allow that to happen without having similar technology to counter it.  Second the people of Elysium seem too disconnected to be believable.  Their hoarding of miraculous medical technology in particular seems particularly cruel.

The plot of this movie is a mixture of the Savior archetype, and the Prometheus archetype.  Basically the richest people in the world have fled to the luxurious space station named Elysium.  There they have robotic servants, and disease free nearly immortal lives brought about by medical technology that has the capability of completely rebuilding a body from the faintest spark of life.  Cancer, Birth defects, and deadly radiation poisoning are all quickly and easily fixed.  In contrast the people on earth are left with modern medical technology or worse, and must deal with massive overpopulation and a poisoned biosphere.  Meanwhile the people of Elysium rule over and profit from the people of earth as a permanent lower class.  The hero of the film is not a good man, but at the start he has cleaned up his act, gotten a job, and is trying to better himself.  When he is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation on the job he is given pills that will allow him to function for the rest of his now very short life and fired.  This is done despite the fact that the company has the means to cure him.  Due to his criminal past he has contacts that allow him to do something about it instead of waiting to die like a good slave.  A plan is launched to steal an Elysium citizens identity giving the underground access to billions of dollars.  In the end the hack yields more than they ever bargained for, and he is presented with a choice.  Save himself, or save the world by taking control of Elysium.  In the end he decides to save the world by making all earth residents Elysium Citizens.

This film addresses some of the biggest issues facing America today.  The rampant inequality and disparity of access to health care are currently dividing this country at an accelerating rate.  While things have not gotten nearly to the point that the movie portrays, it is frighteningly easy to see parallels to our current problems.

Science fiction lovers and people who see the current inequality building in our society as a bad thing will likely love this film.

This movie can be purchased digitally or on disk from www.amazon.com.