When the opening scenes to
Oblivion first started rolling, I was not wholly intrigued. Tom Cruise was talking, I was a little thirsty but not willing to pay for a drink, and some punk kid nearby was whispering to his friend. However, that all changed when the title logo busted across the screen and the soundtrack roared through the speakers. I was reminded a little of Tron, and that had me intrigued.
The first thing I noticed about this movie was the fact that the visuals were truly bewildering. Joseph Kosinski obviously has a talent for enticing the senses. Anyone who has was familiar with
Tron: Legacy would definitely notice. As a huge Tron fan, I was pleased to see that Kosinski loves to combine an epic soundtrack with his movies. Both Daft Punk and M83 are electronic music experts, and it's refreshing to see that Kosinski knows these artists can blast out an legendary soundtrack. I was so taken aback by the soundtrack, that I immediately looked up the ending credits song on Youtube (don't look it up just yet if you haven't seen the movie, it has more impact that way).
The part of the film that pulled most critics and viewers away was the fact that the story was somewhat derivative. Considering the fact that Kosinski specifcally said this movie was designed to pay homage to older science-fiction movies, I find this to be an unfair criticism. The more you analyze a movie, and the more familiar you are with Hollywood in general, well sooner or later everything is going to seem derivative! With that being said, I felt that Kosinski successfully pulled together some classic sci-fi tropes together with an original plot. At first, you may feel like the movie is leading to a certain point, especially when the action starts heating up. Just from watching the trailer, you will know that you're waiting to watch for Morgan Freeman to make his appearance, and you probably have a good idea when it's going to happen and how. Once
Oblivion sets up the rules of it's world and gets you sucked in, you can't help but wait for the inevitable. Trying to encompass the movie's plot in a review is foolhardy, as it is an eventful two-hour movie. Rarely is there a low point in the action. Be warned though, this movie goes in an entirely different direction in the final stretch. One could speculate that the movie could have been very predictable. Luckily, it is not.
Oblivion's greatest strengths lie in the talent in the film and behind the film. Tom Cruise turns in an Oscar-worthy performance as he always does, and the supporting cast doesn't disappoint either. If you felt that the male lead in Tron, Garret Hedlund, was weak on the delivery than you can be assured that you will not feel so here. It's clear that some elements of Tron were, for lack of a better term: "Disney-fied". With that leash taken off, Kosinski has been better able to present a deeper and more mature storyline. One romance scene towards the middle of the movie was stuck in my mind in quite a vivid recollection because of it's great use of soundtrack and visuals. My hopes for Kosinski's future movies couldn't be higher.
Of course, this is not a perfect movie. Some parts of the movie might leave more analytical viewers scratching their heads. In example, could Tom Cruise REALLY climb straight up a rope unassisted? Or perhaps you might wonder why in the beginning of the movie you are shown the film's antagonists to be one way, when later they are presented in another fashion? It's unclear at times whether you are meant to fill in the gaps yourself, or if you do have it figured out. To be fair, the movie feeds you a lot of information at a very brisk pace. Some deeper principles of
Oblivion might go over the heads of some casual movie-goers, because it is a film with some darker thematic elements. Why the movie is titled, "Oblivion", is up for debate as well.
Oblivion is a movie that can please both the casual audience and the hardcore science-fiction fan like myself. It might not exactly leave a footprint as big as other sci-fi titans, but it surely kicks a ton of butt along the way. Everybody knows, there are some terrible movies out there that deserve to never see the light of day and be cast into oblivion, but Oblivion itself deserves it's pass to Hollywood Heaven.
RATING: 9 out of 10