Elysium

Poverty, racism, and class inequality are compelling thematic issues for South African-born writer-director Neill Blomkamp (District 9). Set in Los Angeles in 2154, this action-thriller finds most of the population forced to live in sprawling, crime-riddled slums on our squalid, overpopulated, polluted planet, while the very wealthy dwell on a luxurious space station called Elysium, hovering high above. When an ex-con/factory worker named Max (Matt Damon) is exposed to fatal radiation, the only option left for him and his childhood friend (Alice Braga)—a nurse with a leukemia-stricken daughter—is to make it to Elysium, where medical re-atomizers are able to instantly heal all ailments. With only five days to live, Max teams up with a sleazy gangster (Wagner Moura), gets fitted with a protective metallic exoskeleton, taps into the brain of a corrupt corporate executive (William Fichtner), and downloads secret data to overthrow Elysium's autocratic Defense Secretary (Jodie Foster) and her sadistic henchman (Sharlto Copley), thereby opening the celestial sanctuary to the suffering masses of humanity. Making a strong, if heavy-handed, political statement, Blomkamp's FX visuals are innovative and dazzling, but the story is frustratingly illogical and fragmented by repeated flashbacks. As the compassionate Everyman, Damon survives most of the maudlin mayhem, while Armani-clad Foster speaks flawless French as the cold, calculating villain, but Copley's garbled Dutch-inflected dialogue is difficult to decipher. Energetic, if also sociologically simplistic, this violent, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi spectacle is an optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the production featurettes “Collaboration: Crafting the Performances” (13 min.) and “Engineering Utopia: Creating a Society in the Sky” (12 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a three-part “The Journey to Elysium” behind-the-scenes featurette (46 min.), as well as the production segments “In Support of Story” on visual effects (11 min.) and “The Technology of 2154” (10 min.), an extended scene (2 min.), a “Visions of 2154” interactive art and design gallery, and bonus DVD and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)