OBLIVION

Earth was decimated by a war between humans and an alien race known as Scavs. The Scavs struck first, destroying Earth’s moon which subsequently caused a string of natural disasters and led to their invasion. The humans retaliated by using nuclear weapons ultimately winning the war but devastating the planet in the process. The surviving human population was relocated to Titan, one of the moons orbiting Saturn except for a few who remained onboard Tet; a spaceship orbiting Earth. It is now the year 2077, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and his assigned co-worker Victoria are the only humans still on Earth. Jack’s job is to repair faulty drones and Victoria’s job is to keep an eye on him. They both report to the mission commander onboard the spaceship Tet and patiently await the end of their tour of duty so they can rejoin the rest of mankind on Titan. But the chance sighting of numerous escape pods parachuting to the planet’s surface sparks a chain of events that will question the very meaning of life for Jack.

The Science Fiction genre within the medium of motion pictures has been in existence for well over a century. In fact one of the first narrative films ever made was a Sci-Fi film; George Melies,’ A Trip to the Moon (1902). So making a unique Sci-Fi genre film in this day and age is extremely difficult. It seems that every story imaginable has already been told. Oblivion is one of those rare films in which the back story is actually more interesting than the main story. If the filmmakers had just filmed the alien invasion and the battle this would have turned out to be a praiseworthy Sci-Fi movie. Instead what they’ve done is incorporate noticeable anecdotes from films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Independence Day (1996) and Moon (2009) to name a few. Even the chase scene between Jack’s plane and the drones is reminiscent of the pod race in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) but I don’t want to give George Lucas credit where credit isn’t due. The story is painfully slow at times with many scenes where Jack is just staring out at the scenic views of post-apocalyptic Earth. These views, although spectacular, really doesn’t do much for the story and in the end ‘story’ is paramount. The filmmakers waste so much time in the beginning and middle parts of the film and then are forced to rush the ending making it cheesy and clichéd.

The acting is an example of Hollywood being Hollywood. Regardless of Tom Cruise’s personal life, I do consider myself a fan of Tom Cruise the actor. The roles Cruise has played in films such as Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Magnolia (1999) is proof that he is a great actor. This is why it’s baffling to me that he continues to play essentially himself in many of his recent roles. From the Mission Impossible series to War of the Worlds to Oblivion, Cruise continues to play Cruise. Morgan Freeman also plays Morgan Freeman only difference is the wardrobe. It’s clear that he was only hired so that they could place his familiar face on the movie poster. Two known actors on a movie poster and in a movie trailer draw in audiences. Freeman’s character is insignificant to the overall story. To complete this ‘Hollywood mixture’ please add one fashion model turned actress from Ukraine and stir evenly. Olga Kurylenko’s performance is as hollow as a Super Model’s stomach. She is badly cast as the female lead. Rounding out the actors are Melissa Leo and Andrea Riseborough who are tolerable.

A growing trend in big budget movies of today is to spend all the money on actors and special effects and nothing on script and story development. Oblivion follows in this trend as well. Oscar winner Claudio Miranda’s cinematography is top-notch and the special effects are similarly fantastic. Even the score by M83 is distinctive and evocative of the Tron: Legacy (2010) score by Daft Punk. Director Joseph Kosinski having directed both Tron: Legacy and Oblivion is definitely capable of selecting talented composers, cinematographers and special effects wizards but giving his stories a strong finish hasn’t been achieved yet. I want to like this movie but ignoring the glaring cracks in the science is impossible. Why can’t mission control view the cameras installed on each drone? Jack and Victoria’s home/ control center is high up in the stratosphere but unaffected by strong winds? Repairing defective drones with a mere chewing gum? There are many more but it all boils down to weak story. Being oblivious to the science of fine storytelling is this film’s downfall.  

Rating: 5/10

S. V. Fernando