History YMMV / Elysium

* WTHCastingAgency: As the years have gone on Matt Damon's casting is seen as a bit of a sore spot. The film is a thinly-veiled allegory for illegal immigration and, rather than having a Latino actor play Max (whose surname is Da Costa), they go for a WhiteMaleLead. While there are of course white Latinos, Matt Damon is not. This gives some of the story a bit of a 'white savior' narrative. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't the first choice, and only got cast after Watkin Tudor Jones and Eminem turned it down.

* WTHCastingAgency: As the years have gone on Matt Damon's casting is seen as a bit of a sore spot. The film is a thinly-veiled allegory for illegal immigration and, rather than having a Latino actor play Max (whose surname is Da Costa), they go for a WhiteMaleLead. While there are of course [[LatinoIsBrown white Latinos]], Matt Damon is not. This gives some of the story a bit of a 'white savior' narrative. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't the first choice, and only got cast after Watkin Tudor Jones and Eminem turned it down.

* CompleteMonster: [[DragonInChief Agent]] C.M. [[AxCrazy Kruger]] is [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first introduced]] shooting down refugee ships full of men, women and children. We are then informed of his history of human rights violations, a reputation he proceeds to live up. He kills Max's allies and then when he tracks him to the home of his old friend Frey, he threatens and beats her in front of her daughter, mocking the latter to close her eyes as he claims he [[FauxAffablyEvil hates to commit violence in front of kids]], before attempting to molest Frey. After Frey scorns him, he declares he'll make sure her daughter is never healed. When he's chastised for his failures by his superior Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt, [[PsychoForHire Kruger]] simply [[spoiler:murders her and then declares he'll take over Elysium itself to give it the ruler it deserves.]]

%% * LoveToHate: Kruger.

** Spider changing the status of all Earth citizens to be legal citizens of Elysium by literally backspacing the word "ILLEGAL" and typing in the word "LEGAL" in what appears to be a UNIX command line is a little bit goofy.

* {{Narm}}: Specifically, Creator/JodieFoster's portrayal of Delacourt. Combined with her bizarre accent, it's little wonder why she got sidelined by Kruger. That said, as Richard Roeper notes, [[http://blog.richardroeper.com/?p=5332 Foster's butchered performance is surprisingly compelling.]]

* ToughActToFollow: Given that Neill Blomkamp's debut film was ''Film/{{District 9}}'', this reaction was kind of inevitable, unfortunately. While many praise this film for its effects and Sharlto Copley's performance as Kruger, quite a few thought that the social commentary and the overall character development paled in comparison to Blomkamp's debut film.

* DracoInLeatherPants: It's rare for a nigh-inhumane bastard to receive this treatment. However, Creator/SharltoCopley's superlative performance as the AxCrazy Kruger makes this villain the runaway favorite for most viewers. For comparison, he has similar traits to Clarence Boddicker from ''Film/RoboCop'' who also has a blood-soaked, AxCrazy career, doing dirty work for a shady company.

* DracoInLeatherPants: It's rare for a nigh-inhumane bastard to receive this treatment. However, Creator/SharltoCopley's superlative performance as the AxCrazy Kruger makes this villain the runaway favorite for most viewers. For comparison, he has similar traits to Clarence Boddicker from ''Film/RoboCop'' who also has a blood-soaked, AxCrazy career.

* DracoInLeatherPants: It's rare for a nigh-inhumane bastard to receive this treatment. However, Creator/SharltoCopley's superlative performance as the AxCrazy Kruger makes this villain the runaway favorite for most viewers. For comparison, he has similar traits to Clarence Boddicker from ''Film/RoboCop'' who also had a blood-soaked, AxCrazy career.

* DracoInLeatherPants: It's rare for a nigh-inhumane bastard to receive this treatment. However, Creator/SharltoCopley's superlative performance as the AxCrazy Kruger makes this villain the runaway favorite for most viewers.

* HypeBacklash: Some viewers who loved ''Film/{{District 9}}'' were disappointed with Blomkamp's followup. Then again, ''District 9'' is a really ToughActToFollow.

* CompleteMonster: [[DragonInChief Agent]] C.M. [[AxCrazy Kruger]] is [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first introduced]] shooting down refugee ships full of men, women and children. We are then informed of his history of human rights violations, a reputation he proceeds to live up. He kills Max's allies and then when he tracks him to the home of his old friend Frey, he threatens and beats her in front of her daughter, mocking the latter to close her eyes as he claims he [[FauxAffablyEvil hates to commit violence in front of kids]], before attempting to molest Frey. After Frey scorns him, he declares he'll make sure her daughter is never healed. When he's chastised for his failures by his superior Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt, [[PsychoForHire Kruger]] simply [[spoiler:[[TheStarscream murders her]] and then declares he'll take over Elysium itself to give it the ruler it deserves.]]

* {{Narm}}: Specifically, JodieFoster's portrayal of Delacourt. Combined with her bizarre accent, it's little wonder why she got sidelined by Kruger. That said, as Richard Roeper notes, [[http://blog.richardroeper.com/?p=5332 Foster's butchered performance is surprisingly compelling.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Elysium's blanket ban on immigration is downright topical with the election of Creator/DonaldTrump and his supporters' draconian anti-immigrant stance.

* CompleteMonster: Agent Kruger is first introduced shooting down refugee ships full of men, women and children. We are then informed of his history of human rights violations, a reputation he proceeds to live up. He kills Max's allies and then when he tracks him to the home of his old friend Frey, he threatens and beats her in front of her daughter, mocking the latter to close her eyes as he claims he [[FauxAffablyEvil hates to commit violence in front of kids,]] before attempting to molest Frey. [[spoiler: After Frey scorns him, he declares he'll make sure her daughter is never healed. When he's chastised for his failures by his superior Delacourt, Kruger simply murders her and then declares he'll take over Elysium itself to [[TheCaligula give it the ruler it deserves.]]]]

* EvilIsCool: Kruger and his cohorts sport some pretty cool toys, armor and general [[{{Badass}} badassery]].

* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Kruger. You know it's time to run whenever you see him or his squadmates enter the picture.
* SpaceWhaleAesop: In this movie, healthcare is a pod that seemingly uses no natural resources and can pinpoint your exact problem and correct it at the molecular level in a matter of minutes with no apparent risk or side effects. As a stand-in for real life medical care it rather shoots for the moon.
** On the other hand, millions of deaths could be prevented each year worldwide with medications, treatments and vaccinations that cost less than ten bucks total ''per person.'' To a '''lot''' of people, the First World looks just like Elysium - right down to the border cops killing them wholesale just to keep them out.

* LoveToHate: Kruger, for the reasons above.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Delacourt's strange accent. She's the only character with an accent that doesn't sound like an existing modern one. Given that she's French, it's probably supposed to be a faint French accent over Foster's native American.

* [[CrazyAwesome Crazy]][=/=]CreepyAwesome: Kruger. For instance, he prefers barbecuing chicken and ribs ''with his katana.''

* {{Anvilicious}}: Impoverished, Spanish-speaking citizens of Earth trying to illegally immigrate to a space station owned by the English/French-speaking 1%? Bonus points for name-dropping the Department of Homeland Security. Yeah, this film is ''[[SarcasmMode totally]]'' [[SarcasmMode subtle]] with its allegories regarding illegal immigration, universal healthcare, and the Occupy movements.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Impoverished, Spanish-speaking citizens of Earth trying to illegally immigrate to a space station owned by the English/French-speaking 1%? Bonus points for name-dropping the Department of Homeland Security. Yeah, this film is ''[[SarcasmMode totally]]'' [[SarcasmMode subtle]] with its allegories regarding illegal immigration, universal healthcare, and the Occupy movements. Then again, this ''is'' a movie made by the same guy who made ''Film/{{District 9}}'', which had all of the subtlety of a freight train; [=YMMV=] if SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped.

* SpaceWhaleAesop: In this movie, healthcare is a pod that seemingly uses no natural resources and can pinpoint your exact problem and correct it at the molecular level in a matter of minutes with no apparent risk or side effects. [[{{SarcasmMode}} Just like real life]].
** On the other hand, millions of deaths could be prevented each year worldwide with medications, treatments and vaccinations that cost less than ten bucks total ''per person.'' To a '''lot''' of people, the First World looks just like Elysium - right down to the border cops killing them wholesale just to keep them out.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: What else did you expect from Neill Blomkamp?

* UnfortunateImplications: The film shows its heroic that instead of the poor rising themselves up out of their poverty they bring the wealthy and well-off down to their level in a literal sense.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Delacourt's strange accent. She's the only character with an accent that doesn't sound like an existing modern one. Given that she's French, it's probably supposed to be a faint French accent over Foster's native American.

* UnfortunateImplications: The film shows its heroic that instead of the poor rising themselves up out of their poverty they bring the wealthy and we'll off down to their level in a literal sense.

* DracoInLeatherPants: It's rare for a nigh-inhumane bastard to receive this treatment. However, Sharlto Copley's superlative performance as the AxCrazy Kruger makes this villain the runaway favorite for most viewers.