ऑबलीवियन

Primarily a tale of disinformation, "Oblivion" tackles myriad issues that are relevant to our time: Do you know who you are? Who do you trust to inform you? What is true intimacy? And will Artificial Intelligence rule over mankind? To be frank, the true great villain in "Oblivion" is the human race itself: We are enslaving our own people, destroying our own planet and exterminating each other. But, to be even more precise, the true villains are the people in wealth and power (as portrayed here by sentient artificial intelligence). The millionaires and politicians are the ones who pay to keep us in the dark and on our hamster wheels, feeding them resources at the cost of all life on the surface of the Earth. In our reality, just like in the movie, mankind is engaged in repetitive tasks, staying alive and oblivious to its truth; living in superficial relationships with no real love and allowing the planet to be consumed. As such, you and I ARE the protagonist in this movie: A puppet on strings, fighting against itself and serving an evil, selfish and vampiric power that is corrupting the planet. We are living in the clouds and need to touch grass.

To get the plastic point across, Director Joseph Kosinski employs wonderful vistas of our planet. The photography and prop design in this movie is truly something special (thank you, Claudio Miranda). The color palette also gets the plot across by driving in the difference between conscious and unconscious, earthly and artificial thru black, brown and green versus cream and grey. Thru an exaggerated script, (one which can be frustrating, especially during the first minutes of the film), we see that the ideal life our repairman leads is both luxurious and supposedly meaningful... but something is afoot; it doesn't feel natural! Our protagonist has been fed false information, the same way we are told whatever suits the agenda of today's media outlets. We notice in the movie that those who cannot accept the truth, refuse to engage with the planet; they live in the sky and are not "down to Earth". These people exist in real life, and can usually be found in wealthy circles who are far removed from any struggle, conflict or life difficulty. Because of this, they perceive others as inhuman or below them, when the truth is the exact opposite.

In conclusion, whether it was Joseph Kosinski's intention or not, "Oblivion" asks you to wake up and realize: You are overseeing the destruction of your human soul and are participating in the looting of planet Earth. But what do you do now? The film offers no other solution to this issue of the machine, other than to join a Jihad and bomb the system to kingdom come. As such, "Oblivion" may strike some users into consideration, but mostly passes off as a good time and is quickly forgotten in a sea of other consumables.

I never gave this a chance when it was released. It received mediocre reviews and it just kinda fell off my radar.

I have to agree with others and say it's definitely underrated. Great plot (minus a few plot holes), amazing acting, cgi looks awesome (it's just as good as modern movies or better even though this is a decade old).

I've noticed a lot lately that if I go back to the mid 2010's or earlier I find a lot of good movies. It just shows you how far Hollywood has fallen off. Weirdly CGI seems to peak around that time and then studios just got lazy or something and cheaper out with bad graphics and bad writing.

For decades it has been an accepted fact of life in Hollywood that, no matter how good the movie, endings are a write-off.

Hollywood has learned the hard way that, no matter how good the film (or the book on which it is based) it is impossible to do an ending which satisfies the writer, the director, the producers, the critics, the audience and (duh!) reviewers like this one.

That is why, for literally as long as there have been movies, endings are changed at the last minute; and often even multiple endings are shot so that survey groups can be brought in to make the final choice.

The reason I gave this brief lecture on the importance of endings is simple -- going into the last 20 minutes, this was a rock solid film with a rock solid script and rock solid performances.

But the ending was ... perfect.

And perfect endings are so rare these days that I needed to write a review for posterity that does nothing except note this for future readers and future viewers.

Are we still an effective team???????????

A provocative story kernel in its own right, yet it pulls fragments from too many genre greats making it a clichéd mosaic pastiche of a post apocalyptic world where everything is not as it seems.

The opening third is intriguing and well played with a strong three-way dynamic between Jack, Victoria and their mysterious video-comm handler; it piques interest and poses many questions. Jack's questioning nature and feeling that something is 'off' contrasts with the 'happy clappy', following orders vibe from Victoria.

This dynamic is enhanced with the addition of a fourth character Julia, who is already in Jack's dreams - a fabulous performance from Olga Kurylenko. From there though, the movie loses its charm and becomes completely generic.

Fabulous cinematography uses distinct color palettes to denote time and location, admirably supported by excellent effects. The soundtrack is also strong with carefully selected music.

Overall this is a good watch, but flatters to deceive. With more self-confident writing this could have become a classic.

Oblivion is nine years old as I write this, and in perusing the reviews written when it opened, they have aged far less well than the movie.

Those reviews are mostly concerned about whatever the hell Tom Cruise was going through at the time, or obsessed with obscure symbolism in the production design.

For whatever reason, it appears the reviewers couldn't get over themselves enough to just watch the movie and evaluate it on its merits.

On the off chance this film has escaped your attention, it is well worth two hours of your time. It is solidly acted and produced, has first class effects, and a spectacular location. The story combines some emotional heft with a clever and satisfying twist at the end.

I watched it again, but this time with my SciFi hating wife. She protested initially, watched the entire thing, and then thanked me for getting her to watch it afterwards.

That's as good as it gets.