ELYSIUM - Post modernism analysis

'In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission hat could bring equality to the polarised worlds.'
There is immediate use of intertextuality from the establishing shot of the ruined Earth, almost an exact replica of the opening scene of Blade Runner also of Judge Dread 2012; they all make use of the classic city scape shot, which is a typical trope of the dystopian genre. This raises the following question; is the producer paying homage to the genre of is he using an overused trope which is on the verge of becoming cliche? I personally think that this dystopian representation has become cliche as it is endlessly a feature predominantly used as establishing shots in the opening scenes of popular sci-fi films today. Another way in which this reflects dystopia is the clear banishment of the natural world from daily life. The type of world Elysium depicts is utopian and idealistic, a place without sickness or war which are aspects of the human condition and race that should not be removed, their world appears unnatural, unachievable as it is so far removed from reality. This is physically reinforced as reality and this elite, perfect place are literally worlds apart. Life on Earth is in a state of social decay and echoes and relates to our own experience. There is a clear caste system, a total divide of the upper and lower class, who live on two polarised worlds. The elite on elysium rule the lower class who are under constant surveillance by robotics. However from the opening of the trailer we see that the presumably main protagonist questions this society and system.
By introducing the automaton, similar to 'johnny cab' in Total Recall, we are aware of the sci-fi genre. Also by using a human replica which has been designed to enhance humanity the film/trailer conforms to cybernetics. The robot featured in the beginning of the trailer is suggestive of Philip K Dick's 'The Android and The Human' as the 'Machines are becoming more human' also there is that clear comparison of human and mechanical behaviour which echoes the ideas of future evolution. Through the use of an authoritative uniform on the robot, there is clearly signified meaning of this that has relevance in the 21st century to the automated response of people in authority who keep strictly to the rule book. This further reflects the fact that the elite class have become lazy and have allowed machines to do their work, removing humanity from them to remove compromise, also this portrays the robots as an unstoppable force of which the human race cannot conquer. Merging the interdependence of man and technology is part of this genre and further informs us of the evolutionary futuristic aspects within the film/trailer. Also since the film is set in the future there is clearly more advanced technology than that of contemporary society; this is more apparent in Elysium where cancer cells are removed instantly through advanced technology - his extremity echoes the hysterical sublime which supports Baudrillard's concept of the 'loss of the real'.
The message behind this seems to stress the dangers of machines gaining too much power and becoming unconquerable. This would mostly conform to post-modernism if there was more experimentation and an unpredictable ending, we know that Matt Damon will save the world which adheres to the metanarrative that humanity will always triumph, and gives a promising future yet not a realistic one and conforms to another metanarrative.
The very essence of this response is in fact postmodern as i am discussing these concepts as if they are real. The opening scene with the city scape shot has been describes as if the viewer is looking at a real landscape although it is binary, and CJI created. Daniel Boorstin said that technology is blurring rather than sharpening our picture of reality. Baudrillard said that we fill our lives not with experience but with images of experience, however these images are in fact illusions and hyperreal representations which links back to the idea of blurring of the boundaries.