Movie Review: In ‘Elysium,’ Matt Damon Storms the Ultimate Gated Community

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Ann Hornaday

HOLLYWOOD---With “Elysium,” a nightmarish action thriller set in an apocalyptic future, South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp proves that he’s the reigning master of dystopian political allegory. In his stunning 2009 debut, “District 9,” he used a similarly downbeat sci-fi story as a wildly imaginative allegory for his country’s apartheid past and its present-day artifacts. “Elysium” doesn’t pack nearly the same startling punch, and its political agenda is far more ham-handed, but Blomkamp shows that, along with such contemporaries as Rian Johnson (“Looper”) and Duncan Jones (“Moon,” “Source Code”), he’s part of an innovative generation breathing new life into a time-honored genre. [link]