Oblivion all Flash no Substance

Oblivion has amazing visuals, a powerful soundtrack, and a disturbing post-apocalyptic setting. As for the rest of the movie, it was very very average. I give it 3 stars overall, but I would caution people. For those looking for bright lights and dramatic music, this movie is great. For those wanting to see an actual movie, you can skip this one.

The beginning of the movie lays out the whole story: an alien invasion, a horrific war, we won but the planet is ruined, now mankind lives on a space station called the Tet, preparing to go to Titan to rebuild. There are remnants of the alien forces still on Earth trying to stop them from gathering sea water for their fusion power plants.

Tom Cruise plays the role of Jack Harper, after playing Jack Reacher last year. His character, along with his sexy co-worker Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are helping to maintain a set of drones protecting the sea water processors. The landscapes are amazing, although for some reason historical landmarks survive intact while everything else is turned to dust. The music is incredibly loud and almost constant, similar to Tron: Legacy, which is no surprise since it is from the same director Joseph Kosinski.

Harper discovers human survivors and learns the truth of the war and about himself. One survivor in particular Julia (Olga Kurlyenko) catches his eye and throws the whole thing into a whirlwind. It is a cool idea, a great cast, and a massive special effects budget. It should be a winner but it isn’t.

The dialogue is flat, mechanical, basically laying everything out. The characters are never really talking to each other, they are essentially talking to the audience. The characters are simple, two-dimensional, doing almost no acting. Julia in particular was a mindless spectator, which is unfortunate because I loved Kurlyenko in Quantum of Solace and Centurion.

There are several plot holes as well.

While the beginning was cheesy, predictable, the middle weak, the ending was kind of cool. Overall, Oblivion is a simple post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie that will be quickly forgotten, just like Tron: Legacy.

Jacob

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