‘Elysium’ a visceral experience by ‘District 9’s’ Blomkamp

It’s hard to place “Elysium” into any neat category. It’s disconcerting and jarring, with its structure a bit unnerving. But it’s fairly certain writer-director Neill Blomkamp desired this effect.

In his second feature, the South African-born director of 2009’s “District 9” continues to show us just how depressing and ruined our future on Earth will be.

Matt Damon (solid, as always) stars as Max, somewhat of an anti-hero, who seeks to save his own life after being exposed to a lethal dosage of radiation. However, in the course of events, he may just end up changing life as everyone knows it.

“Elysium” opens in 2154, in an L.A. that has seen much better times. (Why is Los Angeles always so devastated in everyone’s version of a dystopia?) There’s a social regimen at play here, creating order to some degree out of the underlying chaos.

Max is an ex-convict now getting by as a factory worker. His factory builds robots, which play a part in maintain the order on the ruins of Earth. (We’ll get into the social commentary aspect of this scenario a bit later. It gets intense.)

After his exposure, Max meets up up with a smuggler, Spider (a brilliant Wagner Moura), a high-tech coyote of sorts. Spider agrees to send Max to Elysium illegally if he steals information from the head of an industrialist (William Fichtner).

But not all is death, scrounging by to survive and illegal immigration. There’s Elysium, the enormous, ritzy space station that orbits about Earth. (Elysium also refers to the Greeks’ fictional land of perfection, detailed centuries ago.)

On Elysium, we meet secretary of defense Delacourt (played by a frosty Jodie Foster). Her mission is clear: to protect their “way of life.” And she has no qualms whatsoever about meeting that objective.

That way of life would bring out the defensive traits in anyone. On Elysium, no one gets sick. Machines regenerate their cells immediately, preventing damage from taking hold. And not just illness. We’re talking full-on, body-crippling damage, as with when Delacourt’s mercenary, Kruger (Sharlto Copley, “District 9”) becomes wounded. Without surprise, he makes his way back.

This technology, the ultimate in health care if you will, is part of the allure Elysium holds. Those on the less-than-safe planet surface brave enough to journey to the space station do so at great risk. The reward, however, would be great: curing loved one.

Director Blomkamp reminds us just how talented he is at creating a world in conflict at society’s core levels. While the adrenaline is non-stop, “Elysium” manages to seamlessly move us through the different “sectors” of this world: the slum Max and old crime partner Julio (Diego Luna) live in; the soul-shattering factory Max works at; the black-market, the heart of the revolutionary Spider.

And though “Elysium” captures what ails us at the moment, there are some flaws in its execution. Blomkamp is more than capable of blowing things up, but when it comes to reconstructing, to building something better out of the ruin, he’s a bit lackluster. Yes, “Elysium” starts like gangbusters, which is a blast of fun. But it makes you wonder whether there was an exit strategy, whether there was a plan on how everything should end that was fresh and ingenious.

Three class-dividing stars out of five.

Following Silver Screening Reviews on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

Matt Damon, playing Max, embarks on a dangerous journey that could change the lives of millions in “Elysium.” (Photo credit: Columbia Pictures)