Review: 'Oblivion'

Back in 2010, when I saw 'Tron: Legacy', I was excited and thrilled, waiting to see what that film had to offer both visually and story-wise. So when I saw it, in IMAX and 3D mind you, I was pretty heavily underwhelmed.  Now it's not that it was a really bad movie. There were things about it that were great. For instance, I loved the musical score along with the sound design, and the visuals were great. The problem with it was that there was little to no story. Without that one crucial element, everything else is just mild. The reason I bring this up is because that film's director, Joseph Kosinski, also directed the new movie 'Oblivion'.

I saw 'Oblivion' in IMAX as well, and it looked and sounded incredible. If that's all you're looking for in this movie, it will not disappoint. Other than that, there is really nothing entirely original here. Many people are saying this movie is incredible with the 'twists and turns' it takes in the storytelling, and yet they don't have a whole lot else to say about it except that it looked cool. I will agree with that second part. The biggest problem that I have with the movie is the story.

Jack (played by Tom Cruise, who I'll get back to in a minute) is a kind of terraformer, though already on Earth, assigned to manage and help clean the earth back up after an alien invasion that occurred decades in the past. That past is our present, only a couple years ahead, in 2017. Jack's not alone though, with the assistance of his lovely partner, Victoria (Andrea Riseborough). But these two's normal, daily routine goes awry when a cargo ship carrying bodies crashes, killing all except for one, a woman named Julia (Olga Kurylenko). There's something odd about her though, seeing how she recognizes Jack, but he doesn't recognize her. How is that possible? Well, if there's one thing about science-fiction stories, it's that anything is possible.

So why does it have to be one that we've heard dozens of times before? And to add to that, it's several story-lines and sci-fi elements that have been done already, combined into one movie. It's, frankly, not very effective. The twists that are revealed in the movie are revelations into new plots that are taken from other much better science-fiction films. For instance, without spoiling anything, it starts out with there being no other man on earth except for one. That's pretty much 'I Am Legend' which was already a sci-fi story from the 1950's before the 2007 movie. After that, it turns into various 'Twilight Zone' episodes, then it turns into 'Moon' (2009), then it becomes 'The Matrix' (1999), and THEN it becomes 'The Terminator' (1984), etc. There's even slight hints of 'Wall-E' (2008) in there, an animated family film.

I don't hate this film. Not at all. There are things that I really admire about it. I loved the look of the film, both technically and visually. The production design and art direction was really cool and impressive. The performances were also good, making the various plot points bearable. So yes I actually liked Tom Cruise in this movie. Sure, he's played this type of character many times before, but nobody else does it like him. It's no wonder that he's still a pretty big movie star to this day.

If you have a chance to see this movie in the theatre, I would recommend seeing it in IMAX. That's where you'll get the best bang for your buck. Other than that, I would say rent it or give it a pass.

My Rating: 2.5 / 4