Oblivion Review

Tom Cruise enjoys some scenery in Oblivion  

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Oblivion

B

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

In the film landscape thought based Sci-Fi films are becoming rarer and rarer. Ever since the original Star Wars way back in 1977 the amount of truly thought provoking science fiction films have been on a complete downturn. In their place came action Sci-Fi films, ones with all bang and little substance instead of the other way around. Cut to today to find Oblivion a film that attempts to find a balance between the action and thought provoking Sci-Fi film. The result is a film that, while solid overall, lacks the gull to really challenge the audience by taking risks. Oblivion instead plays it too safe.

Oblivion’s set up is admittedly an intriguing one. After a war with an alien race the earth has been left in ruins because of all the nuclear bombs being detonated and the moon being destroyed. Most of humanity is now stationed on the Saturn moon Titan. Jack (Tom Cruise) is a field “repairman” of sorts, and him and his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) repair defense and observation drones across the barren Earth. The two are on the last two weeks of their mission on earth when Jack saves a mysterious woman from a space ship wreck Julia (Ogla Kurylenko). Life begins to take a turn when Julia arrives as she seems to be a part of a life that Jack didn’t knew existed.

Oblivion ultimately has too much to pack into 124 minutes of screen time. Presenting the idea of the world itself could be its own film entirely. Instead Oblivion tries to be a dual film, an action film that tries to have ideas. It just tries to pack way too much into the film resulting in pacing and flow issues. Some scenes seem to go on way too long while others feel underdone (more on that in a second) and thus gives the film a mish mash and unfocused feeling.

The other problem with the film is that it goes for some ideas but it doesn’t go far enough with its ideas. The film feels restricted by having to fulfill action Sci-Fi movie tropes to satisfy its blockbuster budget. The film’s opening especially introduces interesting Sci-Fi elements that could have developed into something unique and thought provoking. Unfortunately by the second half of the film it is evident that the film isn’t going the direction that it should have gone in opting for a more action film rout than one of ideas and unique characters. There also an excessive use of symbolism in the film that while tires to deliver ideas, ultimately says little to nothing in the overall context of the film. All the ideas feel underdone as every one of them present post second half are glossed over with a few lines of dialogue or abandoned entirely.

That being said Oblivion is still a pleasant film to watch. This is mostly due to Joseph Kosinsky flair for the visual. Oblivion is, for the most part an expansive and gorgeous film that loves to show off its visual flair. There are lots of wide, landscape shots of a post apocalypse, tech driven earth that are all beautiful in nature. The visual flair often helps drive home the well realized atmosphere of the film, one that strikes a great balance between ruin and hope for the future.

The action sequences are also pleasing portions of the film to watch. As with the rest of the visuals in the film Kosinsky has a particular visual flair that is present in nearly every frame. The action sequences are well put together and don’t rely on quick cuts or visual trickery. Instead the action is followed with longer shots including shots that actually last for longer than the usual 2 second mark in most everyday action films. It gives each action sequence its proper sense of scope and allowing each to feel unique and fun to watch instead of generic and confusing.

The performances in this film seem to serve their purpose and are solid. Tom Cruise is always solid in his action film persona mode. Cruise has an everyman quality to him that seems to work well within the context of the film. It’s nothing spectacular but overall it’s a good performance. The two ladies, while they don’t get too much to do are also solid in each of their supporting roles. Each provide enough nuances to not become carbon copy love interests and they work well. Morgan Freeman (as seen in the trailers) shows up briefly in the film as a rebel soldier of sorts and feels a bit wasted. He is solid as a cigar chomping, sunglasses sporting general but is underwritten in every sense of the word. It would have been nice to see such a fantastic talent play a more interesting and nuanced character than he ends up playing.

Oblivion is, overall a solid Sci-Fi action motion picture with some thought on top. While it’s much too short and doesn’t capitalize on its interesting ideas, the film is pleasant to sit through and is ultimately an enjoyable experience overall. Either way whenever there is a new Sci-Fi film that attempts to be thought provoking it’s worth a look in the oversaturated action Sci-Fi environment.