Film - Oblivion (2013)

[Anthony G Williams]

I had read rather lukewarm opinions of Oblivion so my expectations weren't that great, but I was pleasantly surprised. The date is 2077 and Earth is a very different place, devastated by an alien attack sixty years earlier that had destroyed the Moon and destabilised the planet. The war had been won at a terrible cost and the few survivors are gradually being transferred to Titan, via a huge space station in orbit above the Earth. Meanwhile, the Earth's oceans are being slowly drained by vast fusion generators, to provide power for colonising Titan.

The generators need maintenance, as do the flying drones whose job is to defend them from the Scavengers – small alien machines still on the planet. Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and Vika (Andrea Riseborough) are a maintenance team based in a hi-tech living pod above the surface. They have been there for five years, but their memories of the past had been erased as a security precaution in case they were captured by the Scavengers.

Jack is a troubled man, though. His dreams are filled with incidents before the invasion involving a woman (Olga Kurylenko) whom he is sure he knows – but this makes no sense to him. He is also unhappy with the move to Titan and believes that humanity should stay on Earth, parts of which are still worth living in.

I can't say more without spoilers, but suffice to say that all is not as it seems, and Harper has to cope with one revelation after another as the plot twists and turns. The story is original and intriguing, requiring a higher than usual degree of concentration to keep up; the pace accelerates steadily; and the CGI is spectacular. So unless you are tired of SF action movies or allergic to Tom Cruise (one of which is entirely understandable) Oblivion is well worth watching.

(An extract from my SFF blog: Science Fiction & Fantasy)

 

[Rodders]

Good review. I wasn't expecting much from the movie and found myself pleasantly surprised.

 

[Michael Colton]

This is one of those that when I heard the premise I was interested, then I saw the Tom Cruise bit in a trailer . . .

 

[biodroid]

Very good movie and I got over my Tom Cruise allergies pretty quick. I think he is a good actor and chooses good movies to play in

 

[martin321]

I finally got around to watching this movie on DVD and thought that it was pretty good. A good premise and a decent script.

 

[biodroid]

I now own the blu ray yay

 

[Boaz]

The thing about Cruise is that ever since Top Gun, he's always Tom Cruise. You never forget it's Tom Cruise. He's a decent actor, but when he cries... it's always the same cry. When he laughs... it's the same laugh. When he's angry... it's always the same grim look. When he's flustered, it's the same bewildered look whether he's a fighter pilot, a spy, a sports agent, a lawyer, a different spy, a vet, a soldier, an altogether different spy, a car salesman, a father, a brother, a rocker, a sex guru, or a completely new spy. You never forget it's Tom Cruise. Mel Gibson has this same problem.

Meryl Streep, Gene Hackman, Gary Oldman, and Denzel Washington can all give you five different sad looks, three different happy faces, and ten different voices. You can forget you're watching the actor and believe you're watching a character...

Well, Oblivion is the closest you'll ever get to almost forgetting it's Tom Cruise since you saw Risky Business in the theater. It's like Breakfast at Tiffany's meets Total Recall. Not a great movie, but can be an enjoyable flick for dinner with a friend or spouse.