Elysium ***

Elysium provides an incredible allegorical look at the possible direction humanity could take. I know many will watch this and simply be entertained (a bit), but my thoughts were provoked. The depth to which the political commentary digs surely cannot be missed; at least I want to believe that. The acting, to me, was par, if that, and the story utterly fails to piece enough together to support how things get where they do. But it was the story of what was happening versus how things were played out that reached out and shook me. The premise seems, at first, too far-fetched. But in reality, I’ve ridden past neighborhoods such as those depicted in the movie—neighborhoods built on poverty and minimal abilities to get by, neighborhoods built to elevate the ones in charge, neighborhoods that contain a whole other world that most here will never see. (But our great-grandchildren? This could be a direction too many of them are too familiar with.) Paying attention to that story, I applaud Elysium. If I must think about how Max and Spyder and others actually operate, well, I cannot. Really. But that’s okay. Because it’s the former that left me pleased as a film-goer. No, this wasn’t as good as District 9. And some (most) of the parts in the climactic ending made zero sense, but I urge you to think about what’s portrayed. Think about what LA looks like. And sounds like. Think about what the people on Elysium look like. And think, especially, about the ease at which the medical care occurs at the end. And realize that it had been withheld. And ask why. Elysium appears as a futuristic sci-fi flick to entertain with androids, machine-bolstered humans, and fantastic fight scenes. But it’s much more if you let it settle in. Because if you let it, it’s a flick to help us think.