Oblivion

This movie is - without a doubt - one of the most visually spectacular that I have ever seen, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in that department with the likes of Watchmen, Prometheus, Sunshine and Kosinski's preceding effort - TRON: Legacy. Also (like TRON) the soundtrack is excellent and very well used throughout, enhancing the action and adding depth to some - at times - distinctly average acting performances.

Tom Cruise plays Tom Cruise but that's not a bad thing in this case, in fact his natural charisma carries the movie through some of its slower sections. Morgan Freeman plays Morgan Freeman though he's really not on screen for long enough to influence the movie one way or another. Olga Kurylenko's statuesque profile is unfortunately not matched by her acting ability and I often found it difficult to believe in her character's actions and emotions. Andrea Riseborough turns in maybe the best performance, convincing as the sad and confused Victoria, unwilling - or perhaps unable - to confront the disturbing truth.

At over 2 hours I think that it's too long by about 20 minutes. A shorter cut would tighten up the story and eliminate some of the slower sections which I think hurt the movie's overall rhythm and flow.

Overall, I would definitely recommend going to see this movie in the cinema, on the biggest screen that you can find. It just won't be the same on TV. The visual appeal alone is reason enough, but combined with a clever (if not entirely original) script, a thumping soundtrack and some exciting action, you should be entertained.

If there is a soul, it is made from the love we share.

There are many ways to describe Oblivion, but the softly spoken afterword by Tom Cruise's character really makes you feel the human heartbeat of this sci-fi epic.

As always, the trailer is full of explosions and set pieces. Oblivion the movie is an entirely different beast that values a human story and characters that are driven by common purpose. While the cast is tiny, I found much to enjoy from Cruise, Riseborough, Freeman and that Nordic guy from Headhunters who is showing up more frequently in Hollywood blockbusters. Aside from unusually limited screen-time, Morgan and other supporting cast are effective and memorable.

The threads of the plot are well-woven and I won't give anything away, so what I will tell you is to prepare for a powerful journey into the unknown where nothing is what it seems. Explosive set pieces take a backseat for sci-fi philosophy with twists to spare.

Oblivion ticks all the boxes for correct use of literary devices and establishes enough original cannon to stick in your mind long after the credits start rolling. It is a distinct success among the largely abysmal offerings of 2013 so far, don't miss it.

Reading through the previous reviews, I find myself agreeing with the negative reviews in one sense, but still disagreeing overall. I walked away quite liking this movie.

Most of the complaints are around technical/realism stupidities, or else being a rip-off of previous movies.

Re stupidities: there are plenty, most of the negative reviews are correct, but they miss the point, which is given a more or less silly premise, do the characters fulfill their struggle properly.

For me the answer is strong yes, I tend to respond to the emotions a movie is trying to convey, ultimately this is a story of loss and love, a nice universal theme that always resonates.

Given that theme, the movie's style, effects, music all worked really well to reinforce that. I liked all the performances.

Be careful about critiquing modern SF movies about technical stupidities too much. Most of these have a fatal flaw that would destroy most of them. How about the likelihood of star travel? OK, you have to grant that otherwise most SF movies pretty much fall flat.

But still, the basic premise is not realistic: a star faring race, searching for energy, is not going to bother going to earth for its water, that is so much more easily available anywhere else, energy itself is much more easily accessible without playing with water for fusion, just stay with your own star, mine your own asteroid belt or gas giants.

Sure, it makes no sense for the Tet to make and use human clones, but given that, do we have a good story? I think so.

To me, valid criticisms are when characters, immersed in their realities such as they are, do not act true to their nature. And thus a movie like Prometheus failed since there the highly trained biology experts acted like complete morons.

But that is not the case here. In this movie we have passion, loss, and love, the struggle to persevere.

Plus the drones looked really really cool.

Re copying other movies: get over it. This movie is distinct enough to feel its own. I saw and loved Moon (which granted is the better movie), but I enjoyed this one for what it was.

I think it helped for me to not see any trailers, and to come in with low expectations after hearing about bad reviews.

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.

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.