Oblivion (2013)  

Review: written Sep 2013

Superior and visually breathtaking sci-fi

An Earth laid waste, debris and dust al around with one lone technician doing what he can to keep things running. No, not Wall*E, but Tom Cruise as Jack (Tech 49) repairing the drones left behind to protect giant energy convertors, all that is left of use on Earth. In this endeavour, Tech-49 is aided by Andrea Riseborough in their austere home in the clouds. At the start of the movie, Jack is clearly more philosophical troubled by what they do than she is, but this is overshadowed by a greater disturbance in their routine when Jack finds a survivor, played by Olga Kurylenko, which forces Jack to reassess all he knows about his mission.

First off, the design is just fantastic.. it's a beautifully detailed world, a believably scorched earth in contrast with their sleek minimalist modern living environment. It's clear that throw cushions and terracotta are not in fashion in the future. Also, the director Joseph Kosinski (Tron Legacy) has once again used a contemporary soundtrack which manages to be both epic and modern adding an energy to the movie that it might not have had with a more conventional symphonic score.

Tom Cruise never quite escapes being Tom Cruise, making it hard for us to invest in his character, but Andrea Riseborough more than makes up for it with a character so buttoned up that her expressions of emotion need only be the slightest of moments to make a great impact - it's a great performance. Kurylenko never feels quite at home in her role here, but passes muster. Morgan Freeman - well, who can say that watching Morgan freeman isn't a pleasure, but he is hardly stretched in what turns out to be quite a minor role. Great entrance though, which focuses on his distinctive voice before he is revealed in person. At the end of that short monologue, Freeman says `Lights' and the greater picture is revealed... and that sort of sums up the direction. After every moment of characterisation, we swiftly move past to reach a reveal of some greater plot or art design, which sort of shows you where the director's heart really is. He's more interested in the big ideas, than where his characters are coming from or going to. Many of those ideas in the movie are not original - you get the feeling in the movie frequently of `Oh, that's just like in the movie `insert movie here'.. (it would be churlish to name the movie references and spoil the fun of finding them for yourself). However, it's been put together in such a stylish way and with such conviction from the director, that it's a success. Ultimately it's good to see stylish thoughtful sci-fi gracing the big screen, and I for one give it a thumbs up.