Oblivion Movie Review

Science fiction movies seem to have received a jolt of reactivation in recent years; three with rather similar premises in all are being released in this year alone. ‘’Oblivion’’, the first of the trio transplants Tom Cruise into a ruined Earth where a seemingly routine life is turned upside down.

‘’Oblivion’’ tells the story of Jack Harper (Tom Cruise), an astronaut cleaning up 2077 Earth in the aftermath of an alien war. Harper and his partner/lover Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are supposedly the last humans on Earth and plan to migrate to the human colony on Titan, orbiting Saturn. Things change for the strange when Jack discovers a mysterious woman named Julia (Olga Kurylenko) in the wreckage in a downed spaceship. To begin with the plot has plenty of intrigue which is mostly maintained as Jack gradually learns the truth about his life and overall situation, Total Recall style. The first forty five minutes do establish the setting and situation well, thanks to narrations from Harper but around an hour in however the plot turns into a rather vague guessing game that may have audiences baffled; many themes and elements are tossed onto the pile which mirrors Jack’s gradual discoveries but doesn’t necessarily translate very well to the viewer; instead we’re forced to wait until Malcolm Beech (Morgan Freeman), leader of a band of brothers living underground spells out the truth to us. The film deals with several themes including oppression, memory and destruction but these never really materialise into something philosophically memorable. The ending does pick up steam though as Harper and Beech face the cause of the chaos and seek a way to stop it, bearing similarity to 2009’s Terminator Salvation.

A small cast comprises ‘’Oblivion’’ with Harper being understandably the most developed character of the bunch; his memories of a past life and reluctance to leave Earth provide mystery from the offset and the many revelations he comes across towards the end of the adventure are mostly well structured, keeping extra information out of reach of both him and us as viewers. Unfortunately the supporting characters and the roles they play do fall flat; Harper’s relationships with both Victoria and Julia are average at best, not giving much build up or development and the two women themselves never have a chance to show a full range of emotions or bond with Harper outside of a few sensual moments here and there. The same holds true for the humans living underground; you’ll be wishing you could see more of this Matrix Reloaded style settlement and what life is like but alas, we are only given a few brief snippets of how people live in a ruined world. If it had shown the struggle of the people then more sympathy could have been generated; instead we have Morgan Freeman doing little more than explain what is happening to both Jack and the viewer rather than participating directly in the race for humanity’s survival.

Where Oblivion shines the most is through its setting and visual effects. It’s version of Earth, a decimated wasteland is a sight to behold with all its crumbling landmarks and oceans of dust and ash. Many wide shots work great at showing off the vistas on display and the tremendous destruction that has taken place. The setting clashes with the futuristic technology used by Harper and Victoria; clueing the viewer in to the notion that things may not be as they seem. It’s a shame then that the underground setting as a bustling refuge of humanity is only hinted at rather than explored fully; like the characterisation in ‘’Oblivion’’, parts of the setting also have difficulty making a solid impression. Still the technology used looks suitably cool and futuristic and the one proper action sequence with Jack and Julia pitted against drones in a canyon is tense and frenetic enough to entertain.

‘’Oblivion’’ is a surprisingly mind bending movie that blends many previous sci-fi flicks together; it provides a very memorable setting and some great special effects. With that said it does fall notably short in character development compared to its contemporaries.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars