UNIVERSAL PICTURES | DIRECTOR Joseph Kosinski STARRING Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough
RATING M/PG-13/12A
Where do you go after making a $190 million blockbuster for Disney, one of the biggest companies of them all? After directing a high-tech light show called
Tron: Legacy (a dazzling spectacle but lacking in story/character development) Joseph Kosinski has decided to adapt his own unreleased graphic novel,
Oblivion.
Tom Cruise is Jack Harper, one of the last drone repairmen on a destroyed Earth. All is well (“another day in paradise,” says Andrea Riseborough’s Victoria throughout) until Jack saves a stranger (Olga Kurylenko) from a fallen spacecraft, which causes him to question everything he knows.
In the early stages of the film, the drone repairing is admittedly quite repetitive, as if it’s
WALL-E with humans. Everything seems too perfect, but once Kurylenko’s Julia arrives, the stakes raise and the tension increases. However, the movie lacks in soul, with the characters taking a back-seat of the story rather than centre stage.
Oblivion’s plot is still intriguing and mind-boggling, so expect some discussions afterwards.
Tom Cruise adds star-power, offering a descent performance. Riseborough’s Victoria, Jack’s partner on Earth, is good enough, considering what she’s been given (there’s a lot of repeated and occasionally cringe-worthy dialogue). The same can’t be said for Kurylenko, who feels pretty empty throughout. The rest of the support is nice, especially Morgan Freeman as resistance leader Beech.
“The breathtaking visuals add a much needed wow-factor.”
But the best part of the film, however, are the visuals, adding a much needed wow-factor to the movie. The cinematography is truly stunning, with long, sweeping shots of a ravaged Earth, lush forests and a slowly disappearing ocean. Everything in
Oblivion looks phenomenal, with obviously remarkable effort gone into the breathtaking visual effects. Adding to the wonderful spectacle, M83’s pulse-pounding electro score brings back fond memories of Daft Punk’s turn for
Tron: Legacy. Kosinski knows how to shoot a beautiful picture, as does the cinematographer Claudio Miranda.
Oblivion is certainly a wonderful film to look at, with a decent amount of head-scratching and senses of
2001: A Space Odyssey and
War of the Worlds, but it isn’t a game-changer. It is an original film, however, and in a time of sequels, prequels and spin-offs it’s nice to see some original science-fiction.
VERDICT: ★★★ 1/2 (Good)
What Oblivion lacks in human atmosphere it makes up for in dazzling visuals.