Review of Elysium (2013) by Corvin — 09 Aug 2013

You know the writers got the class warfare aspect of this movie across perfectly when you almost smile at the thought of Homeland Security's pet sociopathic murdering rapist rampaging through the space station where all the elite snobs hang out.

Yes, at one point they did use the words Homeland Security, in case somehow someone failed to get that Elysium represents America (or at least America's ruling elite) and impoverished Earth represents the rest of the world.

I'm all for a movie that captures the anger and frustration of have-nots gazing upon the intolerably selfish haves. However, I prefer my class warfare with fewer plot holes. First there is the usual problem of humans going to work building robots that are fully sophisticated enough to build themselves.

Then factory worker and hard-bitten hero Max receives a lethal dose of radiation without becoming lethal to everyone around him. As an aside, poor Max! His troubles start with a beating from jackboot robots, which leads to the extension of his parole by his robot parole officer, and then goes from there to radiation poisoning.

Then things get really bad for him. Now back to the plot holes, because there are many more. First of all, I don't recall any reason the citizens of Elysium need the pitifully impoverished, desperately sick and injured people of Earth.

The people of Elysium are terrified of illegal immigrants invading their space station paradise, and since they are more than ruthless enough to deny the people of Earth assistance of any kind I see no reason why they wouldn't have dropped a few neutron bombs on the planet and been done with the problem long ago.

Instead it seems they're hoarding all the immortality for themselves while panicking when the occasional illegal reaches the station, breaks into a house, and obtains medical treatment. The illegals reach Elysium thanks to a thriving black market in identification and disposable shuttles.

Very disposable. The Irish coffin ships had better odds of making it to shore. This operation is run by a guy who can't get his henchmen to abduct a citizen of Elysium and steal passcodes out of his head, so he gets Max to do it in exchange for a ticket to Elysium to cure the radiation poisoning that will kill him in five days.

The citizen Max decides to abduct is for some unclear reason slumming around on Earth heading up the robot manufacturing plant where Max, thanks to glaring worker safety issues, gets his lethal dose of radiation.

During the course of this we end up doing a stint in Johnny Mnemonic, with Max's head containing the secret to Elysium citizenship for all. It seems that all anyone has to do to make everyone on Earth a citizen of Elysium is type in the command and reboot once Max's brain gives up the data (killing Max in the process).

Because any advanced society is just one hack away from being completely and irretrievably taken over. Then to compound that plot hole, the movie ends with the now benevolent Elysium computer sending medical help to all of its new citizens on Earth.

If that was so easy then why didn't Elysium's government just do it in the first place and spare themselves the trouble of arguing with their sadistic Homeland Security head over whether to shoot the desperate immigrants out of the sky or just stomp them and send them back to Earth? So why did I give this movie such a high score? Because sometimes the theme and overall flavor of a story works even when the plot is swiss cheese.