Elysium - 極樂世界

Elysium (極樂世界) is an 2014 film. The movie stars Matt Damon. The movie is made by Neill Blomkamp, who helmed District 9 (第九禁區) a few years ago.

In the far future, the earth has rundown and polluted. The "haves" built a paradise in space called Elysium that orbits the earth. The "have nots" remain on earth and try to survive. Damon plays Max, a ex-con trying to do right in life by going straight and having a stable job on the line making robots. Max's childhood is with Frey, who leaves the "hood" for greener pastures. The run into each other at the hospital when Max has a boo boo. Frey patches him off and sends him on his way, not wanting to re-kindle anything. Max heads back to work, but is accidentally exposed to radiation and has 5 days to live. Not wanting to die, he tries to get to Elysium where technology can actually heal of "anything". The spiders are a group of hackers that he makes a deal with and off he goes. When he gets to Elysium, the hit squad there try to stop him and society itself is affected.

Wow. Big concepts in the movie. Just like District 9 (第九禁區), Blomkamp paints desolation in the masses and the rich taking advantage. The rule keepers are ruthless but eventually end up on the wrong end of the stick. Social commentary on South Africa's apartheid past seem to reign supreme in the "commentary" of the Elysium citizens vs. the earthlings.