Monday, August 12, 2013

Elysium: Go Matt Go

In this dystopian sci fi thriller the chasm between haves and have nots has reached gigantic proportions. The masses remain on the overpopulated, depleted, rubble-strewn Earth, while the one percent luxuriate at a five-star space station.

"No fair," you say. And you haven't heard the worst of it.

On Earth, medical facilities can't handle all the ill and injured, but on Elysium, the tony habitat of the wealthy, there's way more than Obamacare. They've got machines that snuff out all disease.

When our hero (Matt Damon) is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and has five days to live, guess where he needs to go. Alas, Elysium is off limits to the likes of him.

The rest of this action-packed flick, follows his attempts to save his life. And since he is our hero, his odyssey is not purely selfish.

Elysium was directed by Neill Blomkamp, the South African who bought us the wonderfully imaginative District 9, which focused on the evils of bigotry. No extraterrestrial's grace this screen, but as far as summer blockbusters go, this one's a gem.

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