I enjoyed the film for the most part, but I thought it lacked two major things.

As others have pointed out, if the med pods were so ubiquitous and most likely mass produced, why were none on Earth? Even if no Earth hospital could afford it, surely some philanthropic Elysium citizen would have donated one.

I think a solution, and I'm surprised this wasn't done given the film was set in LA, was to make medical care relatively scarce even on Elysium, in that instead of everybody having a med pod, you still had to go to a hospital with skilled doctors and highly expensive equipment, both of which are in short supply.

Maybe in the past Elysium used to treat the people of Earth for humanitarian aid, but the demand became so high that their facilities were overrun and burdened such that they decided to stop and only care for their own. Here in LA, illegal immigrants are a huge burden on Hospitals, since by law they must treat them if they enter the ER. They don't have insurance, and the hospital foots the bill. That parallel could have been made more explicit, and would have given a reasonable motivation to keep the medical facilities only available to citizens.

The second thing I think the film needed was a character we get to know living on Elysium, to eventually encounter Max and help him. I feel like if you'e going to set up a class divide, seeing it from both sides is essential, since you can understand it better. Maybe he was born there and just never thought about Earth because it was so far away, maybe he led the campaign to stop treating Earth citizens as explained above. However you do it, it gives you more perspective, AND in the end he is the symbol for hope and change.

As it was now, I don't see why the program would not be fixed and rebooted restoring the status quo. At least with a character on Elysium changing his views, this could lead to others understanding too.

I felt the film was too short. It was paced well and not boring, but I felt like it could have easily been 20 minutes longer exploring the two scenarios listed above and not suffer at all in pacing. I hardly ever think a movie would be better longer, but this one I think could.

And the shakey cam. Ugggggggggggggg.