Film: “Oblivion”
4 Stars
Time and time again, the film industry produces countless films involving the end of mankind on Earth. Things like aliens, zombies, and disease are the usual suspects of this nature.
However, no matter what the case may be, each one tries to pull away from the others to tell their own unique story on why things happened in the way they did.
“Oblivion” follows technician Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and his communications officer/lover Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), as they extract Earth’s remaining resources and deliver them to the new established home that exists on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.
The story takes place after Earth was invaded by aliens, who in turn, also destroyed the moon, causing tectonic upheaval of Earth’s nuclear weapons, thus ruining the planet’s ability to fully support life. They both take orders from a commander known as Sally, who resides in a cubicle-looking space station just above Earth’s atmosphere. One hint suggests in the beginning that they are not the first team to be chosen, and that if a wrong decision is made by either, consequences are sure to come their way.
With only two weeks left before their duty is complete, Harper comes in contact with a group of unknown survivors and experiences a countless change of events that will make him realize exactly who and what has brought him to this point in time.
Director, writer and producer of “Oblivion” Joseph Kosinski did an amazing job explaining exactly what the film was about up until the very last scene. With prior experience in the sci-fi world, through directing 2010’s “Tron: Legacy,” Kosinski isn’t exactly a stranger to placing insane amounts of thought and effort needed to pull off such films.
As is the case with any other sci-fi film, such as “Alien” and “Terminator,” the plot must be explained early on so the viewer doesn’t get lost halfway through the film and frequently asks questions. For “Oblivion,” things will get confusing and one must pay great amounts of attention to even the minute details in the story until the end.
CGI as well as landscape add to the marvelous storyline being told. Countless shots of vast landscape, including forest, desert, ocean and even space make the picture more stunning. Wide arrays of camera angles also add to the suspense to make the actions of all characters in the film more visually pleasing.
Cruise, who we have all seen play numerous roles as a spy, vampire, rock star, pilot, lover, and father, truly succeeds at doing an amazing job playing the sole space technician. Morgan Freeman, with his well-known voice, succeeds as well at playing the scavenger in the dark that leaves a first impression of being nefarious. When it came to the overall cast, the collective performance was very well done.
Like I stated above, one must keep up with every detail to remain constant with the storyline. During some parts of the film, I felt explanation wasn’t being used enough to explain a certain scene. Just when I thought I had understood something, another conclusion jumps in front of you and leads you to believe a whole new scenario. Plus, so many secrets evolve towards the end that will keep you guessing.
If you can put up with the difficult storyline, countless surprises and off-seemingly catchy characters, you will be pleased.
In the end, should you be craving self-inflicted feelings of terror and fright, you can even imagine what the world would be like if there were an unlimited amount of Tom Cruise clones just waiting to be released into the world.
