In the years since Elysium was released, its future has begun to seem less ham-fisted. In an age when certain billionaires are prone to sharing their plans for leaving Earth behind, the idea of a space station reserved solely for the world’s elite doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it should. Time has been kind to Elysium, even if it hasn’t been kind to us.
Seriously. The obvious messaging is fine it's not the film's major flaw. It's been a bit since I watched it but I seem to remember things like pacing, and the emotional core to be kinda weird? idk.
Avatar has obvious ham-fisted messaging but not the same flaws. I guess I'm saying James Cameron could have made Elysium really good instead of just okay, with all the same cool sci-fi shit.
Somewhat related; in the early 00's there was talk of 20th Century Fox producing a 5th Alien movie with Ridley Scott writing and James Cameron directing. After Freddy Vs Jason was announced and received some hype Fox cancelled the project and ordered up Alien Vs Predator in a rush job. A decade later Blomkampf was signed on to make the actual Alien 5 starring Sigourny Weaver while Scott worked on Prometheus 2. Scott threw a fit and ended up turning Prometheus 2 into Alien Covenant and the Blomkampf project was cancelled.